Meaning of You
by MsFuyu
Summary: "How many lives have you lived?" "More than you can guess." "How many of those have we met?" "Every time." "How many times have we died impossible deaths?" "Every. Single. Time." ..UraChin..IchiRuki..
1. Prologue

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

_Blood ran down the boy's face as he concentrated on breathing in and out, in and out. He flinched as the hollow's ear piercing scream tore through him. Lifting his blood-soaked hands up to his face, he doubled over. The blur slipped in and out of his vision. A dainty hand caught him in his fall, just as his knees were about to crash into the floor. _

"_Well, don't you look tired." the girl muttered. Her blank eyes looked at him –stared at him before she gave him a reluctant smile. The eyes of the girl he had fallen in love with. They were so beautiful. Just like her. _

"_Right now's not really the best time to be funny," he corrected her._

"_What else do I have but my sarcasm?" she grinned sheepishly, looking toward the oncoming monster without a trace of the worry, or the self preservation he held._

"_True," he laughed bitterly._

_Was it only a couple of months ago that he met her? It felt like years. It felt like lifetimes. The connection and the mutual love they had for each other was irreplaceable. Unattainable for anyone in this life time. He had caught a lucky break. The minute he saw her he knew. Perhaps it was because his father abandoned him, the bastard child, supporting him from only the shadows? Maybe that was why he got what he wanted. And it was her. Her beautiful eyes that would stare at him innocently as he astounded her with a bouquet of roses. Her long curls of hair, reaching down to her waist. And her lips, soft, light pink, the very ones he had kissed so many times. She was the very essence of beauty. The very thing that made him stare at her longingly. _

_The hollow's white tusks geared up, bringing him back to reality as it prepared another attack. Its left leg swept the floor, before it began a steady gallop toward them. _

_The two looked each other in the eye. Each mirrored each other's expression. She allowed him to lean back, letting his legs unfold in front of him, putting him in a seated position. They both knew the inevitable would happen. Both acknowledged that fate would not let them be any closer in this life time. _

_Time seemed to stop in that moment. Nothing around them mattered but their final farewells._

_She lifted her pale, thin hand toward his bloodied face. Ever so slowly, she traced his jaw line. He closed his eyes, savoring the last moments of this –of her._

_Finally, she let her hand fall back into her lap. Her hand gripped her broken leg in pain. Her face turned pale but she didn't utter any cry of pain. _

"_I guess… I'll have to wait for you in the next life," her tousled hair fell from her shoulder as she leaned down. Knowing her reluctance, he lifted her chin up to face him. His eyes searched hers for the answers he wanted, and he found them._

_Smiling as he said,_

"_You'd better stay in the same place, or else you'll have me going in circles again." _

_Her warm smile in response was all he needed from her at that moment. _

_They held each other's free hand, closing their eyes, leaning their foreheads against each others'. _

_Time started again. Blood spilt everywhere in sight. Across the walkway, the buildings, the street lamps._

_There was not one thing on that street corner untouched by blood._

_The shinigami raced toward the place the cellphone was indicating. She spotted the blood and cursed under her breath before finishing off the hollow in two easy slashes. _

_As she got up from her finish position and sheathed her zanpakuto. Nothing short of tears could express her pain over being too late to save the two._

_Though as she wiped the loose tear away, the bodies lying together began to glow. Intricate patterns and symbols of a brilliant gold mixed with dark-as-night black pulsed like a heartbeat. The shinigami was too shocked to move. Too shocked to react. _

_The two unrecognizable bodies began to crack at the glowing patterns and symbols. And gradually, they broke into tiny essence of spirit, rising up into the sky. _

_Her eyes wide, looking at the symbols as they rose, few words escaped the shinigami's mouth,_

"_This is…!" _


	2. Shimizu Chinatsu

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

She stared out the window of the classroom idly. Her pen tapped on the table as she counted the minutes that had passed since she started looking at the two little kids playing in the field beside the school. Who did those children belong to? The principal? Surely if it was some other parent's child, they'd be told to get off school grounds by now.

"Oi Chinatsu," the teacher's folder of class notes slammed on to her desk. She nonchalantly looked at the teacher, her cheek still leaning on the hand that held her head up.

"Yes sensei," she questioned,

"Answer the question on the board." the teacher cocked an eyebrow at her.

"It's seven hundred and twenty four to the power of seventeen," she sighed after getting a glimpse at the equation scrawled across the blackboard. Scowling at her correct answer, the teacher waltzed back up to the front of the room, writing her answer on the board. Sensei was one of _them_. The figure that she saw standing at the front of the classroom was translucent. Why was that? Chinatsu pivoted her head around to view outside again, but the kids were gone. They were obviously having a fun time. Who knew where they'd have run off to? Maybe they were each other's first love. She smiled to herself. How sweet would that be?

If they were, she'd find hope in a love other than reality. The reality of responsibility and maturity in a relationship. Chinatsu rolled her eyes. It's nice to be young…carefree.

She sat impatiently tapping her pen on her notebook for the rest of the lesson whilst the teacher droned on and on with the self explanatory lesson.

Her relief was ever present as the bell chimed through the corridors. The teacher looking at her visibly livened face. As she threw her books and pens into her bag hurriedly, she raced outside. It was an achievement. Getting to the library without the usual array of glances cast in her direction. Was it her blonde-with-a-white-tinge hair? Or was it her honey brown eyes? Either one made her stick out like a sore thumb in her country. So what if she looked nothing like her parents? So what if the last conversation she ever heard her parents have was about her mother possibly having an affair.

Chinatsu walked down the usual aisle in the usual section in the library. A bounce in her step as she traced her fingers along the spines of the books facing outwards toward her,

"I'm home babies," she whispered, giving the books a sleazy smile.

Slipping out the book she wanted with her index finger, she rested it on her other arm.

"Don't worry, I'll finish you all some other day, Mythology 101 has caught my fancy today," she blew a kiss as she skipped to her usual table and chair in the back.

She turned around from her kiss blowing to jump at the sight of a dead-pan Rukia.

"Seriously. I don't know why I'm your friend," she said, glaring at the expression on her face. Chinatsu just gave her the same seedy grin she gave the book case.

"And that's why I love you,"

She let herself fall heavily onto the chair below her, lifting her knees up to her chin whilst she flipped through the book. Her eyes skimming the words whilst her mind processed and saved it all. Truthfully, Rukia was one of the few people in the school that was clear in her vision. She wasn't translucent like sensei. She was _clear_, _sharp_. Whatever you wanted to call it.

"Hey Rukia," she said, flipping another page, processing.

"Hmm?"

"Why is it, do you think, that I can see you with complete clarity… whilst others are … say, fifty percent of you?"

Rukia thought about it for a moment, her index finger resting on her chin whilst she pursed her lips.

"I don't know," she said, "you've asked me this before. But aren't _you_ the genius?"

"I suppose you're right," Chinatsu beamed. Rukia rolled her eyes.

"That, my friend, is called vanity," Rukia shook her head, "again, another reason why I don't understand why I'm your friend."

"The reasons don't matter, it's what's in here that counts," Chinatsu patted her heart, whilst nodding with wide eyes.

"Shut up you," Rukia chucked a pen at her, laughing at the living contradiction sitting in front of her.

"Hey! Now you're getting violent that's not fair…" Chinatsu's voice gradually got softer as she watched the entrance of the tall orange haired boy walking through the glass doors. Kurosaki Ichigo. He was also part of the few people in school that she could see clearly.

"Rukia," he said. Ichigo slipped a loose arm around her throat, kissing the back of her head.

"Hey there," Rukia said softly, her hair being pulled back by his arm, revealing her dangling earring.

Now that she thought about it, Chinatsu noticed the changes Rukia had gone through since the two had started going out. Instead of cutting her hair to the usual length every time it grew even a centimeter, she let her ebony hair grow to the arch of her back. Her fringe was no more, swept to the side and clipped up with a shiny pin. The two looked at each other for a long moment.

"Oh sorry guys, I thought this was the library," Chinatsu feigned an innocent childish voice lifting her hands up as if guilty, "I'll just get out of this love hotel."

"You're just jealous cause' he's mine," Rukia gave her a mischievous smile, turning around to peck him on the cheek. The two of their faces looking at Chinatsu.

"Yes mistress, I want to steal your strawberry from you," Chinatsu bit her lower lip, licking her lips in a repulsive way. She patted her stomach, "yum yum in my tum."

"Yuck." Rukia's face scrunched up whilst Ichigo chuckled.

"Hey Chinatsu." Ichigo nodded at her.

"Oh so _now_ you acknowledge my existence?" she rolled her eyes, "_took_ your sweet ass time."

Ichigo chuckled, beginning a sentence before having to end it when Rukia's cellphone rang whilst the little badge on his waist started glowing.

"Gotta run," Rukia pulled out the little chappy dispenser and popped a pea-sized pill into her mouth. Simultaneously Ichigo pushed the little skull on the badge. Chinatsu watched, fascinated, as the two separated from their bodies and there were two of each of them.

"Come back soon," she said, her eyebrows lifting up and down, "Or I might strip you two and shove you in a tub together,"

"Oh my gosh. Go Ichigo. GO!" Rukia yelled in horror, and in an instant they were gone.

Sighing, she looked at the two bodies before her. Rukia's replacement soul looked up at her with a slight smile whilst Ichigo's body seemed almost dead. It didn't faze Chinatsu though. When it came to these two, she'd practically seen it all. Gently, she dragged Ichigo's body a slight bit more behind her chair. She told the soul,

"Here, lay here for a moment," It obliged to what she requested.

Lifting the soul's arm to lean on his chest while her head lay on his outstretched arm. They were hidden by the chair she sat on under the coffee table behind it. _That_'d give them a nice surprise when they came back.

Dusting off her hands, she put her hands on her hips in delight, nodding as she spoke to herself,

"Good job Chinatsu, good _job_,"

Walking back to her chair, she sat back in the same position, reading the mythology book once again. After only a few moments, her legs felt stiff, numb, even paralyzed, but she didn't move. This position was like a comfort for her. Whenever the day ended, this was the position she sat in for at least an hour before she went home.

"So Soul candy, what's your name?" she began, continuing to flip through her book whilst talking as if it were the most natural thing to be doing at that moment.

"Chappy pyon."

"How unoriginal," Chinatsu muttered, turning around to warn, "just lay there until she gets back, okay?"

"Yes pyon!" the thing in Rukia's body nodded whilst cuddling closer to Ichigo's body, closing her eyes in delight whilst rubbing her head up and down his chest.

Chinatsu shivered in disgust.

"Rukia really needs to get that thing Ichigo has."

The afternoon seemed to drag on and on, though the clock only ticked past the hour mark, meaning the two would be back soon. Almost five o'clock. Sighing to herself, she continued flying through the thick book as swiftly as her genius mind allowed. Finally, by twelve past five, the two had arrived back. Ichigo was breathing heavily whilst Rukia stood calmly in front of him. Her hands were on her hips expectantly. As Ichigo re-covered his zanpakuto in the usual bandages, Rukia pursed her lips,

"Chi-na-tsu."

"Yes Ru-Ki-A?" Chinatsu looked up slyly, mimicking Rukia's use of separating syllables.

"Where are our bodies?"

"pyon!" the sound came from behind Chinatsu's chair. Upon seeing Rukia's surprised gasp, Chinatsu shrugged.

"Where else could I hide you guys?"

"Really now?" Rukia raised an eyebrow, "the only place you could find was _behind_ you in the tightest space possible."

Chinatsu shrugged innocently, feigning ignorance.

With Ichigo finally calmed down, he shrugged as well, letting his soul rejoin his body. Rukia followed, coughing up the pill into her hand as her shinigami spirit took hold of her body again.

"Wow." She said, her head leaning on Ichigo's chest. "this is _actually_ more awkward than I thought it'd be."

"Got that right," Ichigo muttered, "Oi, Chinatsu, can you move your chair?"

"Oh right." Chinatsu quickly grabbed her chair, flashing Rukia an evil grin before moving it aside.

"Jeez, that girl." Rukia laughed, shimmying out of the tight space with Ichigo under her, "next time just get Kon to take over."

"Actually, this isn't that bad," Ichigo laughed, watching Rukia hold her skirt in place as she ducked out from the tight space.

"Pervert."

Ichigo just shrugged. Not denying the accusation. As Rukia crawled out, Ichigo followed. The two dusted themselves off before grabbing their bags,

"Chinatsu, don't you have to get home now?" Ichigo asked, only to earn an elbow in his stomach from Rukia, "Ow what was th-"

"It's okay Rukia. Better now than later." Chinatsu smiled, her eyes still on the last pages of her book though, "I have no one to go home to."

"Huh?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow whilst his mouth hung open.

"My parents disappeared on my fourteenth birthday. I have no siblings. And no guardian. Not even an aunt or an uncle that the city knows of. I don't even know why I wasn't shipped off to the orphanage. But oh well." She shrugged, again, talking as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh. Damn. Sorry."

Chinatsu giggled,

"It's alright, just go! Have fun! No need to feel bad."

Ichigo looked at her with an apologetic smile as Rukia nodded to her before dragging him out.

"Oh yeah," Rukia called from the door, earning her a nasty glare from the librarian, "it's raining outside, so you'd better get out quick before it ends,"

"Oh?" Chinatsu perked up, "I'll go right after I finish this book."

"Yeah I'm sure you will," Rukia rolled her eyes, turning back around to walk the right direction.

She skimmed through the rest of the book in a blink of an eye and bounced back to the bookshelf to replace the book where it was taken from. Grabbing her bag, she slipped it onto her shoulders in a rush as she jogged out the glass paned doors.

Outside was pouring. The way she'd normally have liked it if it was a normal day. But obviously today was definitely _not_ a normal day. The beautifully fresh smell of the rain she normally loved seemed to cast a wave of dread through her body. Every little drop that touched her outstretched hand was only seen as a nuisance. The sky gradually got greyer and greyer. There was no chance of the rain letting up.

Normally, she'd have let herself run in the rain, with not a care in the world. _Normally_, she'd perhaps even _walk_ in the rain. But what was so different about today?

A middle aged man strolled in her line of sight. A shiver ran down her spine at first glance. He wore a brimmed green and white striped hat, whilst sporting a black coat with what appeared to be a white diamond on the back.

Her heart sped up as she looked at what looked like a middle aged man. He was _clear_. Far clearer than she'd originally thought, looking through the haze of rain. Upon feeling a stare on him, his gaze fell upon her.

Even from where she was standing, she could see his well carved features, his blonde hair, and his beautifully hazel eyes. Despite his original appearances, he didn't look a day over nineteen.


	3. Who are you?

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

The boy's gaze was on her. The expression on his face mirrored her confused one. His whole body had frozen in the one place. He didn't even _try_ to pretend he was looking at anything else which made her heart beat that little bit faster. Why? She didn't even _know_ the boy. She didn't even _recognize_ him. Where had he come from? Where was he going to?

Her mind went through every rationale thought she could think in those few seconds. But as much as she wanted to get things through her head that she didn't know the boy, the unimaginable longing in her heart made her want to run up to him, throw her arms around him, kiss him even. She shivered at the thought. Quickly feigning rubbing her eyes as if she were confused at what she saw. When her hand left her eye, she knew, as much as she wished he weren't, he was gone.

What was that? Walking a bit further out from the cover, she reminded herself. It's raining. He was standing there the whole time. He didn't get wet. In fact, Rukia and Ichigo had just come back from the rain, so why weren't _they_ wet? She shook her head. _Even someone like me will never understand their world_. Looking up at the sky, her lips couldn't help stretching from ear to ear. Beautiful. A beautiful sky with different shades of grey lay above her. The droplets of water plummeting with little 'ping' sounds as they hit the floor.

Wiping her forehead of the sheen of rain that had coated it, she strolled along the sidewalk. The clouds dulled the night's darkness into a light purple making her feel safe as she walked to her apartment block. It was the first time that day that she had been allowed a moment where she could just not think –not worry. The rain stayed at a light shower, though soaking through her uniform and bag. She turned a corner. The usual alleyway that freaked her out didn't look as taunting as it was now. But as she inched closer, a bad feeling spread across her chest. Like the moment in a horror movie before something happened, the music would change, except now, there was no music. Just unusual silence.

What looked like a human walked out of the alley. Its hands in its pockets. Under his left eye was a purple cross stretching down to its jaw line and to his left ear. The shiny silver earrings dangled from his ear as his black spiked hair dangled in his eye.

It brought the word _gangster_ to mind when she first saw the face. But she _knew_ he was different. He was clear in her vision. As clear as Rukia and Ichigo were. His eyes were lined with what looked like purple. His white with black lined coat was cut short just above his abs, where a gaping hole was. Chinatsu gasped. A… hollow?

Its sharp teeth grinned at her. The grin stretched across his face.

Chinatsu's body went frigid. Her mind went blank. Every cell in her body screamed at her to run. To scream. But she stood still. Her curiosity getting the better of her. She examined the hollow from the tip of its bony mask-like crown on its head to its bone-like toes. Were all hollow made of bone?

"You're unusual," it said. Chinatsu gasped again in horror. It called her unusual! Only Rukia could do that!

"Now that's not very nice," she chided, tapping her finger on her elbow whilst her foot tapped expectantly on the path beneath it.

"Hmm…" It walked closer, making a strange clicking sound as it walked. Now _this_ was unusual. She'd come across many hollow in her time with Rukia, but she'd never seen one so… intellectually advanced. As it inched closer, her mind was still on the examining escapade, but her body shuddered. Instinctively, she turned to run away. The immediate regret of letting herself soak up all the rain rushed over her as her body felt heavier than usual. Her footsteps making loud splashing noises every step of the way.

The hollow flashed out of nowhere before her, still grinning.

She turned the other direction, but it appeared in front of her again. How did it _do_ that? She asked her self. Frustrated.

"Easier than I expected," it appeared directly in front of her and grasped her cheek with its boney claws so tightly, her tear ducks let water roll out. The blood ran out from the punctures and the pain settled in. Without realizing it, she let out a blood curling scream. Louder than her preferred tone of voice. It seemed louder even, then the cries from souls or hollows she saw everyday.

Seconds later, the same blonde hair she had seen moments before stood behind the hollow. The black coat flapped despite the rain and no wind as he stood slightly above the ground, clasping his zanpakuto lightly.

"Nake, Benihime," a red flash cut through the back of the hollow. Chinatsu gasped when she saw the red flash slicing its shocked face in half. The halves falling slowly to the ground as it disintegrated into a blue glitter-like substance before materializing into the air. Her mouth was agape before she realized that just _happened_.

"You killed the hollow," Chinatsu said through her shock, touching the blood still flowing from her cheek.

"_That_ was not a hollow," he said, sheathing his zanpakuto back into his cane, "I'm surprised I couldn't detect an arrancar's reiatsu. Lucky I was in the area. No. Lucky you screamed."

Her eyes flickered from his cane to his beautifully carved features to his hair. Amazing. The feeling in her penetrated cheek gradually numbed, but her hand felt the continuous flow of blood. He noticed it immediately,

"Doesn't that hurt?" he asked, giving her a tentative smile. His lips curving up just slightly. _Beautiful_ came to mind, but she remembered her mother telling her never to call a man that.

"It sure does," she said, smiling like a douche bag before her vision went hazy. After that, all she could hear was a deeper version of his voice gradually warping itself and fading into nothing. She blinked, but to no avail. Her eyes rolled back and her world turned black. In that split second before she fell back, she felt strong arms stop her fall.

As she floated into semi-consciousness, she felt something warm on her cheek. Chinatsu satisfied herself with a mental smile, as she was unable to locate her lips. Then she fell back into darkness again.

"Oi Chinatsu," Rukia's hand mini-slapped her face repeatedly. Chinatsu blinked hesitantly, water had stopped dripping on her face. Did it stop raining? The thought depressed her more than it did having to wake up. Her eyes opened. The sky was still a shade of purple. She was still on the street.

"Rukia?" her voice came out hoarse as she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to examine the same surroundings she had fainted in.

"What happened to you?" Rukia looked her in the eye, giving her a worried stare. Waking up completely now, she sat up. It was still raining. It had only been Rukia's head blocking the rain. She smiled hesitantly, reminding herself of the minor wound on her cheek that would probably be painful. But as she smiled, there was no pain. Huh? Chinatsu touched her cheek. Nothing. It was gone. Or had it even been there to begin with?

She played with her cheeks. Maybe she got the wrong cheek? But the other side was fine too. She stood up, looking at the closest reflection she could see. Not even dried blood left, like in the books she'd read.

_Come ON mysterious guy, at least give me a clue or something_, she rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Chinatsu?" Rukia asked, unsure of her friend's actions.

"Yeah?" she, in her confusion, asked back.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine." She muttered, "Too fine…"

"What are you doing sleeping on the street?" Rukia questioned her, "I know you're crazy, but you're not _that_ crazy."

"What time is it?" Chinatsu waited for Rukia to check her cell phone time.

"It's 8 something,"

"So I've only been here about two hours…" she said, rubbing her chin. But somehow she'd only felt his presence leave when she woke up.

"Huh?"

"Say, Rukia, how strong are these 'arrancar'?"

Rukia gasped.

"You came across one? How are you still _alive_?"

"I guess that answers the question," Chinatsu rolled her eyes, "can 'shinigami' heal?"

"We have a healing kido, yes," Rukia muttered, looking bewildered.

"Hmm," Chinatsu watched her friend watch her curiously.

"Can you tell me what's going on Chinatsu, why you're asking these questions, what happened, why you were _sleeping _on the _street_?" her voice reached a tone that even Chinatsu had never heard it reach as she finished on 'street'.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Chinatsu said, sitting down cross-legged where Rukia was kneeling, "I was attacked by this 'arrancar'. Only got a few scratches. Then this boy came and saved me."

"What scratches? And what _boy_? I see no boy." Rukia let the flood of words flow out of her, "why would he just leave you here?"

"Actually, just listen, he um. Cut the 'arrancar'. And it sort of… died? Do those things die?"

"… their souls are purified. But yes. I suppose they do, in a sense, die."

"Yeah. Well it disappeared. I added it to my database." Chinatsu nodded.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Where are your injuries?"

"Oh. I _think_ –I can't be sure –but I'm pretty sure he healed me."

"You think?"

"Yeah well, as you could see," Chinatsu's eyes moved to the place she had previously been laying, "I was sort of… occupied. By, you know, unconsciousness."

Rukia let out a sigh of relief? Disdain? Remorse? Who knew? But she stood up, balanced herself, and helped Chinatsu up.

"At least you're alright."

"At least? Of course…" Chinatsu's words faded as Rukia's do-not-do-this-now expression hit her, "Yeah…At least I'm okay."

* * *

Rukia sucked on her popper as Ichigo asked,

"So what did this guy look like?"

After the lunch bell had rung, the two had filed into her classroom, obviously wanting some answers post-shock. And as Chinatsu had said nothing about the incident yesterday to Ichigo, Rukia had obviously filled him in. The one downside to people having partners in this world. She shook her head.

"He was blonde…"

"Like you." Ichigo pointed out. Another thing she hated about talking to Ichigo. His knowledge of anything other than _literal _ was… non-existent.

"… yes. Like me. And he had… hazel eyes? I think they were hazel. And he wore a green striped hat, a black coat and a cane."

"Wait…" Ichigo thought for a moment. Chinatsu mentally chastised herself for making herself wait for his simplistic answers.

"Doesn't he sound like…"

"Urahara," Rukia finished, her eyes wide in shock.

"Urahara?" Chinatsu questioned, such an odd name, "Do you know someone like that?"

"_That's_ the guy who saved you?" Rukia asked incredulously. "The way you described him yesterday made him sound _young_."

"So Urahara saved you?" Ichigo repeated. Chinatsu's index finger twitched. This guy…

"I don't know this 'Urahara'. He's not in my database."

"What database?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow. Now _this_ was easy to explain to him. She tapped her temple, indicating her database was in her head.

"You said, 'his perfect features' this, or 'he was beautiful' that," Rukia didn't bother muffling her laugh, "you never said he was an old geezer!"

She laughed uncontrollably, then suddenly stopped.

"But if it's your preference to date old men then…"

"No!" Chinatsu stood up, embarrassed. This earned her a couple more judgmental glances from her already stupefied classmates. Her blonde hair and honey brown eyes got enough of that, she didn't need more. So she sat down again.

"He wasn't old," she didn't face them as she said this, like she had something to hide, "he was… _beautiful_."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same guy here?" Rukia started shivering with laughter, "I wouldn't exactly describe Urahara as 'beautiful'."

"…" Chinatsu folded her arms. Rukia was obviously not going to listen to her wholeheartedly, so she sat stubbornly until she shut up.

She had to wait a moment before Rukia loosened her grip on her stomach and looked up.

"Okay, OKAY!" Rukia put her hands in the air, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah better be," she pouted, looking at Rukia angrily whilst Ichigo watched. It was so awkward trying to have conversations with him always hanging around.

"So you wanna meet Urahara? We're going to his shop today," he asked, looking at Chinatsu.

Maybe he had sensed her mental hostility toward him, so his question came out hesitantly.

"Sure… but with Rukia' reaction, I doubt it's him."

"But who else but Urahara would wear that disgusting bucket hat?" Rukia asked dubiously.

"True…" Chinatsu had to agree with her. The hat _was_ kind of gross.

"Then it's decided. We'll go there after school." Ichigo said as the end of lunch bell rang.

"Meet you at the gate then."

They stood on the dark brown stone walkway that led to Urahara shop. _Wow what an original name_ Chinatsu mentally rolled her eyes, having promised herself not to judge him off the bat, though it was getting difficult.

Upon their entrance through the outside gate, the front door slowly began to open.

Chinatsu's heart sped up. Her mind racing. What if it _was_ him? Would he really be as old as Rukia and Ichigo insisted? That'd be disgusting. But if it wasn't him, where would he be?

Her thoughts went a muck, all whilst the door had only opened an inch. But through the darkness of the opening, she could vaguely see something.

Two sets of eyes stared at her.


	4. Real World

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

Chinatsu looked in front of her. Ichigo and Rukia hadn't been fazed at all by the stares directed at her. Or maybe they hadn't noticed. Who knew? This place was one of those creepy private owned shops that sent shivers up her spine. Who knew what kind of perverted old geezers owned these places? She shuddered at the thought. What if this 'Urahara' guy was _exactly that_? What if her vision wasn't as good as she'd hoped? There were too many 'what if' questions she wanted answers for in that moment. One being: What if last night was too good to be true?

And if anyone else thought about it, yes. It was. She let her thoughts frame his picture and hang it on the wall in her mind. He was perfect like a portrait. With the gold white strands of hair gleaming in the reflective light, no excess lighting necessary.

The two stares were still directed at her. Now that they were closer, she could just make out a little boy whispering something to the little girl beside him. His red hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Yet she loved it. And she wasn't simply liking it because it made him, in a way, similar to her –she loved it simply because it suited him. The tuft of hair in the middle top was gelled upward, to keep it straight, whilst his sharp eyes looked at her.

The girl accompanying him on the other hand gripped the door gently, looking at Chinatsu with the most innocent eyes she'd ever seen. Her cheeks, although not visibly in the light, were a rosy pink.

"Jinta, Ururu, what is _with_ those creepy stares?" Rukia crossed her arms. The door ajar.

"Welcome," Ururu's soft voice hovered out the door. Ichigo pushed the door open fully, expecting an answer from Jinta. Ururu had quickly let go of the door to save herself from falling.

"Ichigo!" Jinta's face lit up. Nobody would've seen the fist aimed at Ichigo's man jewels that had him writhing on the floor in pain. Jinta cackled at the sight of Ichigo rolling around on the floor. Rukia stifled a laugh. Chinatsu on the other hand, had no mercy for Ichigo. After all, she had no reason to _not_. She held her stomach from the pain of laughing too hard.

They all jumped when they heard the store clerk's disciplinary muscle slamming into Jinta. Then Jinta flying across the room. Then Jinta slamming into the ground.

"Ahh, Tsukabishi-san," Rukia smiled at him, uncrossing her arms.

"Rukia-dono," he nodded, his eyes skimming across Ichigo's pained form to Chinatsu. Her eyes were still locked on Jinta's unmoving form.

"Don't worry about him," Tsukabishi-san said, "he needs punishment."

But that whack looked too violent. There was _no way_ someone could survive that without a trip to the hospital. Chinatsu looked to Rukia for unanswered questions. Was Jinta alright? Did they have to make a quick hospital run? Did you hear that _crack_ sound just then? Rukia took one look at her expression, rolled her eyes and nodded toward Jinta's direction.

Just as she did this, Jinta got up, rubbing his head.

"Ow old man, that really hurts."

"Get to work," he said, his face warping into a crazed stoned expression as he stared Jinta down.

"Yeah yeah." Jinta shrugged off the command, stepping back into the store, "Oi Ururu let's go."

The girl followed him with a strangely contented expression. As if she actually _wanted_ to follow him and do his chores for him.

Chinatsu watched all this in awe. Having been exposed to too many of them in a short period of time was shocking to her. By 'them' she meant clear ones. Solid people. Ones with 100% visibility in her vision.

Tsukabishi-san looked at her.

"Your friend, Rukia?"

Ichigo had gotten up, still limping from the pain between his legs, but content with draping his arm over Rukia's shoulder to balance himself.

"Chinatsu," he said.

"Which reminds me," Rukia pointed out, "is Urahara in?"

Tessai gave them a curious glance before concealing whatever it was he didn't want them to see.

"Urahara is not," he said, "he left yesterday afternoon on an errand and hasn't returned since."

"Oh… When do you think he'll be back?"

"I'm not completely sure, Rukia-dono," Tessai gave a meek bow, his head down.

"Don't worry. Can you contact us when he's back?"

"Of course,"

What an odd shop. What odd employees. Little kids and a body builder? A _very_ odd shop indeed.

* * *

Chinatsu sat, tapping her pen on the desk, looking out the window. How many times had she been stuck in this seat, looking at the same scene before her? The characters varied from time to time, from the little kids, to elderly people strolling along, or to business people rushing to their next destination. But it was always the same scene. She felt like her head was going to explode from the boredom. The dissatisfaction.

"Oi Chinatsu," the same folder of files came slamming on to her desk, expectant of an answer.

"Yes sensei?" Chinatsu asked in her sweetest, most polite tone she could muster.

"Translate the sentence on the board," the teacher pointed to the board which had poorly written English scrawled across it.

"Today I went to the grocery shop to buy ingredients for dinner," she responded, after skimming her eyes briefly across the words and rearranging some of the teacher's grammar.

"Very good," the teacher looked her up and down, clearly annoyed that a student that never listened could be so competent. Obviously, she was trying to find where Chinatsu was keeping her cheating cards. Or at least where she was getting her answers from.

Chinatsu gave the teacher her sweetest, most misleading smile she could give. And the best thing about sticking out in school? The teacher took pity on you.

She rolled her eyes. _Obviously_ it was from _her_ brain. Nobody else in her class was competent enough to even translate the first half of that sentence. But she slumped in her seat. Her hands folding into fists holding up her chin.

As much as she wanted to spend the rest of her day spitting sarcastic comments about in her head, she couldn't help but think back to that afternoon, that night. His voice… his smell. It was like meeting Edward Cullen for the first time, but so much better than she'd expected.

But she didn't get close enough. To smell. She'd memorized everything about him but his smell. So _how_? How did she know what he smelled like? In fact, when she first saw him, _why_ did she have a faint recognition in the back of her head? Why did a whole world of love (or was it obsession?) pour into her heart at that moment? It was impossible to interrogate one's self. Especially when one knew that they _didn't_ know the answer to a question but kept asking just to see what would happen.

And nothing did happen. Chinatsu felt herself walking in circles in her mind. Trying to find out something that she didn't know. How could she _not_ know?

She lay her head on her folded arms on her desk. The pain in her head was eminent. She raked her fingers through her blonde hair. Blonde hair that earned her a good scolding from an unsuspecting teacher every now and then for 'bleaching it such an unnatural colour'. To which her home room teacher gave no support when she tried to explain that it was natural. At one point, she'd even hired a blonde Caucasian woman just to show the principal that it was natural, and to tell the teachers to stop harassing her.

Why did they care anyway? It wasn't like _they_ were running through the halls, trying to avoid alien gazes. But enough of feeling sorry for herself. It had been exactly two weeks since the time Rukia had told that body builder-san to contact her. Where _was_ this 'Urahara' guy? Was he missing? Chinatsu doubted it. If she learnt anything from being Rukia's friend for the past year, it was that these 'shinigami' folk never 'disappeared' per se. They just left for a period of time to do errands such as… you know, saving karakura town from destruction by this man called 'Aizen'. A devious mastermind who spent years upon _years_ plotting to become the next soul society king. Nothing major.

From what she had heard from Rukia, this 'Urahara' man was pretty important. So it didn't surprise her that he wouldn't fit time into his busy schedule to meet with a petty high school girl who had possibly mistaken somebody else for him. What a complete and utter waste of time.

The bell rang and she took her usual route to the library. Every time she walked in, the librarian would note her hair, her eyes, and then her uniform before gritting her teeth, allowing her in. She supposed as a librarian, it was always the bleached-haired people who tore up her books and covered them in graffiti. But there was no way she was going to give in to the pressure and dye her hair that filthy, _common_ black.

Never.

Taking solace in her usual book case, grabbing the next book along, she sat in her usual cushiony corner. She sat on her chair, letting her chin rest on her knees. As usual. Rukia rushed in, her bag dangling from her shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late," she said. Although in a rush, she wasn't puffing. Typical. In her hand was her phone that she carried around with her everywhere, "that baka sensei put me on cleaning duty just because I had my denreishinki…"

As she was saying this, it started beeping and flashing in her hand. The minute her eyes settled in the cell phone in her hand, her eyes widened. Rukia looked around frantically.

"Why can't I feel it when it's right _here_?"

A gnawing feeling formed in Chinatsu's stomach. That never meant anything good. The denreishinki in Rukia's hand was _always_ the bringer of bad news. Her suspicions were satiated when she heard a scream where the librarian's desk was.

Chinatsu watched as Rukia pulled out the chappy dispenser from her pocket, popping a pill into her mouth. The 'chappy' soul inside her stood still, getting used to the body it had been put in whilst another Rukia separated from the original, clasping her zanpakuto at her side. It was like watching a cell split in two. Fascinating.

Rukia disappeared with a blue flash. Chinatsu heard her zanpakuto clash against another sword before she saw it. There, standing with one arm draped around the broken neck of the librarian, and one arm shaped into a huge boney arc, was something similar to the arrancar she encountered the other week.

This one had a red line starting from her ear, across the side of her neck down to her collar bone. She wore a revealing vest that hit only her breasts and wrapped around her back, extending to her thighs. Reaching up to her thighs was long white with black trim boots. The expression this arrancar wore was one of boredom as she licked the remnants of soul from around her mouth. Even in such a situation where she was supposed to be racked with fear, she examined the humanoid in front of her. Despite its feast it had just devoured, its skin was glowing. Content. Stunning.

"Chinatsu get out of the library, quick!" Rukia yelled, not looking away from her opponent.

She immediately obliged, attempting to run past the participants in the fight. But she didn't even get two steps away.

"Come back!" Rukia's voice said again.

Why was she giving Chinatsu mixed messages? As she turned around, she saw the hollow's mouth just closing and Rukia's wide eyes.

"Listen to me," the real Rukia's voice said, "_go!_ No matter what this chick says,"

"Listen to _me_," the arrancar's voice mimicked Rukia's speech, her facial expression still the same blank, bored look.

She shook her head. Why are these hollow things so confusing? Why do they have these abilities? Something in the back of her mind urged her to go back to them. To greet her. But she shrugged it off. Right now, she just had to get out of the building. As she exited, she heard Rukia spouting her commands,

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

Chinatsu shivered as the wave of cold reached her back upon exit. She was outside. Safe. The tension she was feeling inside of her didn't let up, even though she was supposed to be safe. The enemy was inside. Enemy… When had she associated hollow with that word? They were just her _world_. The ones she saw clearly.

_So confusing!_ She shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a speck. Another speck. And multiple more specks coming into view. They got larger and larger.

Her eyes widened. They… _looked_ like hollow. She couldn't be sure.

An ear piercing wail that only hollow could make told her she was right.


	5. Minute by Minute

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

**A/N:** The first few chapters I was so rushed to post them up that I didn't save the time to write a little author's note. Shame. So I'll write one now. If that's okay with you?

I've been trying to frantically write this up as fast as possible so all the ideas flow... I'm just hoping that you enjoy the storyline so far. I mean: A young Urahara? Who'd ever think the goofy man who always cracked jokes and did disgusting things could be in the least attractive? Well. I'll say. I saw his blonde hair and his mysterious attitude and it was like *SHASHING* jackpot baby.

Yes. I've kept my altar ego from you this whole time.

So the gist of what I'm trying to say here is this: thanks for reading so far, I hope you enjoy this chapter that I've spent a whopping 2 days writing (?) and please... feel free to add a review. They're like comments. But better. And it's a really big confidence booster when it comes to my storyline n stuff. Also a great way to hear what you've got to say about the stuff that's mercilessly being shoved into the story.

Thanks again. And please, as much as I'd like to babble more, enjoy. :)

Love, Mifuyu

* * *

She stood there, her mouth agape. Never in Chinatsu's whole stinking life had she come across so many hollows hoarded together in one place, all heading to the one location. Straight at her.

As they drew nearer and nearer, their whistles of screams echoed around her. They seemed so far away, but close enough that she could feel the pain residing in their boney armour. All of them, as far as her eye could see, were crying out, running to her for escape. But she couldn't save them. They'd already transformed. They'd already gone through painful processes in which they'd turned into hollow.

Her body moved on its own. Her right hand curled into a neat fist whilst her index finger curved into a hook shape. The tip of her thumb touched the tip of the hanging index finger. She tapped the hand to her forehead and outstretched her hand in a welcoming gesture. In her mind, she thought nothing but,

_I'm sorry_.

Over her short seventeen years of life, she'd come across many hollow. Every time she'd heard a slight echo of pain in her heart, but she'd never realised it was from the hollow until now. Surrounded.

Her eyes widened as she regained control of what ever was happening to her. The hollow were all about fifty metres away from her. What to do? If she managed to get away, would they be able to find her again? Obviously _something_ was attracting them all to her at that moment. So what? Everything seemed to move in slow motion as her mind sifted through all the bad things that could possibly happen if she didn't manage to get out of this pinch.

Getting her soul eaten just like that poor librarian? Torn to shreds by multiple hollow at once? She shivered. Her eyes looked around her swiftly trying to see a way out. Rukia would still be battling that Arrancar. For whatever reason. Where was Ichigo? She sighed mentally. He was always late. There was no hope for her. Even if she screamed now, it would only distract Rukia from her battle. One wrong move could kill her. She wasn't willing to take that chance. Second by second, they inched closer, and there was a deeper heartbeat resounding in her core. The beat going _tha-thump_, _tha-thump_.

She leaned her head down in the palms of her hands. If she didn't _see_ it then it couldn't possibly be as bad as she'd imagined. Maybe it wouldn't be as painful if she thought something else. Thought to better times in her life.

When she was adopted by the mysterious family. Them showering her with love and care for a year before disappearing.

It was almost over. They were heading for her. She could hear it. Their corrupted souls drawing nearer and nearer.

A silence.

_Tha-thump. Tha-thump._

_Tha-thump._

The flapping of a coat in front of her whilst a hand guided her head and the rest of her into a protective embrace.

She slowly let her hands fall from her face, knowing who she'd see. Chinatsu smiled at the sight of the green and white striped hat. She'd never appreciated such an ugly thing in her life. Her eyes had gone a little watery from the near-death experience. When he arrived though, her anxiety vanished completely.

His blonde hair floated up and down as the wind from his arrival slowly ceased.

"It's you," she whispered in her blissful gaze. He _wasn't_ some old geezer.

"Chinatsu," his voice said, making her shiver with delight, as his other arm fended off many a hundred hollow that were attempting to attack them, with Benihime.

"Yeah?"

"There are too many of them," he said, looking her straight in the eye, willing her to trust him, "so I'm going to need you to close your eyes and stay _right_ here. Okay?"

Chinatsu nodded obediently. Anything for him.

"Good. Now I'll be right back."

Her heart sped up at the announcement of his exit. But he'd told her to stay there. So she painfully stood still, closing her eyes whilst fighting the anxiety that strangled her again.

Hearing the huge explosion like thing, she shuddered. She expected the excess wind from such an explosion would hurl itself at her. But it floated around her, caressing her skin as it passed. Chinatsu couldn't help but smile at this. The word _obsessed_ came to mind and her smile immediately faded.

In the distance, she heard agonising cries of pain as the zanpakuto slashed at the hollows, tens upon hundreds at a time being crushed by this power of his. She covered her ears, kneeling down into a squat, trying to make herself into a little ball as she rocked back and forth. With even her ears covered and her eyes closed, she could _see_ them being slashed, _hear_ their souls crying out for mercy.

Although Rukia had told her many times that their zanpakuto was made for purifying the souls, she couldn't help but wince at the sound of their bodies being sliced in half. At the sounds of their painful cries in her heart, weighing it down. As much as her mind believed Rukia, her heart bled for these creatures.

After what seemed like forever, she heard footsteps approaching her. And in some way, she _knew_ it was him. Like his presence had a signature to it, like Rukia and Ichigo.

"They're gone now," Chinatsu heard his velvety voice say as he kneeled down, "you can open your eyes now."

She opened her eyes and lifted her head to see his shining eyes. His eyes widened at the sight of her, and he smiled wholeheartedly.

"Don't worry, nothing's going to attack you anymore."

"You... kill them," she mumbled the words out with wide eyes, having just noticed the tears that ran non-stop down her cheeks, "you _hurt_ them."

He had nothing to say as he stared at her with a confused expression. Chinatsu felt so stupid. This boy had just saved her from the hollow. Why was she crying? Almost calling him a monster?

But she couldn't help the hiccupping and the sobbing that ran through her violently every time. In a way, she knew, she was mourning for the souls that had disappeared. She tried so desperately to calm herself down, but she couldn't stop.

He watched this and pulled her into a hug. Her head bent sideways onto his chest while he slowly stroked her hair.

"They've gone to soul society," he hushed her, "the next life. They're not dead."

After a moment she sniffed. The sobbing had calmed down, but her tears kept flowing, no matter how much she willed it to stop for his sake.

"I'm sorry," she said in a daze. It was directed to him, but mostly to the hollow that had gone. Chinatsu didn't know _why_ she was sorry for them, but she just wanted to say it. As if it was her obligation. She nudged him to let go, and he did.

Her whole life had been surrounded by these creatures. It was like the complete opposite for any normal person. For Chinatsu, it was watching a massacre. She looked up at him with blank eyes. Remembering something she'd needed to ask him.

"What's your name?"

He seemed to find this amusing that she didn't know his name. In fact, how'd he come to find hers out? What a stalker. But it didn't scare her. One glance at him told her that he wasn't that type of person.

His silence continued. Finally, just as he opened his mouth to say something, he closed it again. He gave her a farewell smile and stood up, disappearing in an instant.

"Chinatsu!" Rukia limped out of the library door. Half her face was covered in blood. Chinatsu ran to her and threw her arm around her own shoulder, picking up Rukia's weight. She turned away, wiping the tears from her eyes, before looking back at Rukia.

"What happened in there?"

"The usual," Rukia muttered, then smiling wholeheartedly at Chinatsu, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks," she said to Rukia, though she knew he'd still be around to hear her saying it to him as well. As the words left her mouth, she felt him disappear, "let's get you back home."

By the time they'd reached the place, Rukia had noticeably paled, her face covered in sweat. Her eyes looked droopy. Chinatsu felt her forehead.

"You're feverish," she muttered, still holding Rukia's weight up.

She limped past the threshold into the house with Kurosaki-san's permission, and went upstairs to Ichigo's room, laying Rukia down onto his bed.

Running downstairs, she grabbed a large bowl and filled it with water. Ran to the bathroom to grab a tea towel and ran back to Ichigo's room. Rukia's eyes were closed, but her mouth was open, breathing in tiny warm breaths.

Looking at the gash on Rukia's leg and the cut through her shihakushou, the remnants of it soaking up the seeping blood. Chinatsu gagged a bit but held back her stomach's contents. When Rukia had come out of the library, she'd been so relieved that Rukia had defeated that thing that she didn't notice the direness of her injuries.

She emptied the side table of the lamp, books, and unnecessary things and replaced it with the bowl of water. The towel soaked the water right up, allowing her to squeeze it out and dab at the blood.

The unusual thing about the wounds was that they were glowing a purple red colour. What wounds grew purple? She had to ask herself. But this was a shinigami. She didn't know anything about the chemical make up of their bodies. There wasn't a book on _that_. Or if there was, she'd never gotten her hands on it. Frustrated, she soaked the blood off in the bowl of water and squeezed the towel again. This time wiping the blood and sweat off Rukia's face. Ichigo's sheets were getting lined with dried blood by now, but that didn't matter at that moment.

The minute they'd gotten in, she'd ordered his father to contact him. To tell him not to go to the library. To get home _immediately_.

Kurosaki-san walked in,

"Kurosaki-sensei," Chinatsu began.

"Please. Just call me Isshin." Frown lines were carved into his forehead.

"Well _Isshin_! Do you know what's wrong with her? I keep wiping the blood away but it keeps coming out!" her voice reached a squeal. The worry she felt was tangibly in the room.

He looked down, his hand motioning in a way that it willed her to calm down. He was a doctor. Looking closer, past the purple cloud that hung around the wound, there were tiny markings. Symbols. He rubbed his hand on his chin for a while whilst looking at it.

The impatience in Chinatsu made her tremble violently.

"It looks like a poison," he said finally, pushing his arms on his thighs to lift himself back into a standing position, "I can't recognize it…Which means it's a newly developed one. Either by that arrancar's ability or by the general hollow population."

"A poison?" her voice had raised to an inaudible pitch. The hysteretic note in her voice hadn't been missed by Isshin who looked at her with a blank expression.

Ichigo chose to rush in the door at that exact moment.

"Is she alright?"

"Does she _look_ alright?" Chinatsu scowled at his ignorance.

He brushed past his father, past Chinatsu up to Rukia's unconscious body. Pale, sweat drops continuing to form on her fevered face. He kneeled down beside his bed, clasping her tiny hand in his.

"Rukia?" he said.

No answer.

He turned around, looking at his father for answers.

"He says it's a poison," Chinatsu said in place of him, as his father was so astounded by the fact that he didn't know how to treat her in that moment.

"Dad! How do we cure it? How do we get the antidote?"

"If it was the arrancar's ability, the antidote would only be available via the arrancar…" he said dubiously, "but…I'm not sure."

"How can you not be _sure_?" Ichigo demanded, his eyes reddening.

"I'm _sorry_ I don't know all the answers Ichigo, Chinatsu." He said with a straight face, "If you want me to be one _hundred_ percent sure, then I need Unohana."

"As in Unohana _taichou_?" Ichigo's mouth hung open. The unspoken thing in the air everyone except Chinatsu understood was: _There's no fricking way a captain would come here for the sole purpose of healing one person._

"Who's this Unohana-san?" Chinatsu asked, confused at the sudden change of direction of the conversation. Ichigo and Isshin seemed to be lost in their own world. They ignored her.

"Do you think she'd come on request?" Ichigo asked desperately, "It's Rukia we're talking about here… maybe she would take sympathy for a fellow gotei 13 member?"

"It doesn't work that way Ichigo." Isshin's eyebrows seemed forever connected with each other until they were only one single block.

"What do you _mean_?"

"There are tens of hundreds of people she has to tend to in soul society everyday. Coming to the human world would have no benefit on _her_ or _them_."

"I don't get it!" Ichigo shook his head.

Chinatsu rolled her eyes, grabbing Ichigo by the shoulders so he was forced to face her.

"If you were in this 'Unohana' taichou's position, you'd have the choice: save ten people today, or save one. What would you pick?"

His eyes dulled upon understanding.

"She wouldn't just let Rukia die…" Ichigo whispered, "We have to at least try…"

"Yes, it would seem you'd need to," a familiar voice came from a black coated figure that stood in the shadows of the entry to Ichigo's room.

"You're here," Isshin said.

"Indeed," he stepped into the light of the room. His blonde hair seemed to float whilst he nodded whilst touching the edge of his green and white striped hat to Isshin. Chinatsu looked in awe at the man's unshaved stubble, his defined and blackened eye bags and his slightly slouched back. His eyes flickered to her in an amused lopsided grin.

They all watched his entrance, except Ichigo, who continued staring at Rukia's limp form.

"Hurry up Urahara, open the senkaimon."


	6. Last Breath

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

"Hurry up Urahara, open the senkaimon."

The strange man looked at Ichigo.

"I hate to be the voice of reason, Ichigo, but what are you going to do when you get there? Just waltz into her quarters and demand she come to the human world?"

His eye bags were layers upon layers of too many late nights shoved under his eyes. The hat, the clothes and the cane were all shockingly the same. Perhaps he had a brother? Per chance he lent his clothes to another boy that looked _exactly _like the younger version of him.

Chinatsu's world seemed to stop as she stared at him. The presence she felt emanating from him was the same she felt from the boy. No differences. Heck, she'd even bet that in that cane was the same zanpakuto. Yet why?

She'd only seen him a couple of hours ago.

The world went back into motion when his gaze landed on her. The playful smile he had first given her was replaced by a confused one. Like he was trying to find an answer in her that she probably didn't know herself. Perhaps he was thinking of the same questions as her. What are you to me? How do I know you? _Why_ do I get this feeling when I'm around you?

Ichigo was still mulling over what to do with Isshin,

"We can't take her there," Ichigo said, "If I even move her a bit she feels pain."

"Unohana isn't going to leave her quarters to attend to one person," Isshin tried to explain.

Chinatsu turned around,

"Could you just take photos or something and take it to this woman to diagnose her?"

At this, Ichigo's face lit up. That was the perfect idea! He started getting up to go find the camera locked away somewhere in the closet, but Isshin's hand stopped him, motioning him to sit back down.

"Human world photos may capture spiritual flashes, but they don't get details," Isshin bowed his head, resigned.

"Oh…" she murmured, her eyes flickered back to Urahara.

"I don't even know if they'll let me see her," Ichigo knocked his head repeatedly.

"Why not?" Chinatsu asked, confused, "you're all shinigami right?"

"_Substitute_ shinigami," Ichigo corrected, "I'm recognized as someone who can do the job but I have even littler say as a person with out a seat."

"What about Isshin then?"

"…"

Everyone in the room except for Urahara and Chinatsu looked down.

"Okay…" she said, feeling everyone's 'don't-wanna-talk-about-it' mood. She looked to Urahara, the man she'd been trying to figure out for the past few seconds, "what about Urahara then?"

Ichigo slapped his head, as if annoyed that _she_ didn't know something. Chinatsu twitched. He was looking down on her. Nobody she looked down on looked down on her. She salvaged her rage by simply leaning her neck left and then right, hearing a cracking sound. Urahara spoke before she expected,

"I've been exiled from soul society," he said nonchalantly, looking around the room in fascination.

"E-exiled?" Chinatsu said, becoming painfully uncomfortable, "for what?"

He shrugged, not wanting to say anymore.

"We can worry about that next time. Right now, helping Rukia should be our first priority."

Chinatsu looked at Rukia's bloody form and nodded.

"Yeah. You're right. Even if there's no way for this 'Unohana' to come, it's worth a try."

"We could use that screen that Hitsugaya and Rangiku used in Orihime's house," Ichigo suggested, "she'll be able to see and stuff."

"What screen?" Chinatsu asked. What was all this stuff they were mentioning? Not knowing was really eating at her.

"Urahara," Ichigo said impatiently, desperately even.

"Let's head to the shop then."

* * *

They stood on the slab of earth in front of Urahara shop. Chinatsu shivered. They were within walking distance of the front when Jinta slammed the door open, running at full speed. Tessai was only inches behind him holding a cooking pan.

Urahara continued walking as if this were the norm. As Tessai passed the incoming group, his glasses seemed to make a _shing_ sound. Soon after, he was walking behind them, grabbing hold of Jinta's collar as he thrashed about, trying to break free.

"You _will_ do your own chores," he said simply. Chinatsu felt uncomfortable not seeing his mouth move, but rather, his moustache.

Chinatsu's feet made a hollow sound in the floor board every step she took. In fact, she was pretty sure she was the only one who was making the noise. As she looked around, every surface sparkled. The candy on display seemed to glimmer, screaming "BUY ME!"

_I will babies_, she petted them in her head, _but not today. My friend's injured_.

Ichigo pushed the wheel chair that held Rukia in. Although her body instinctively winced with pain every time he moved her, he had taken the most care in the world, trying ever so hard not to move her too much so she was seated in the wheel chair.

They'd wrapped her legs with Chinatsu's first aid kit, but it did nothing to stop the blood or get rid of the red purple glowing. It was the first time Chinatsu had felt utterly useless. What if her friend died? Could shinigami even die? Was that _possible_?

Her imagination put a picture in front of her. Rukia. Her body slowly fading in her sight because there was no spirit left in her.

She shivered at the thought.

Rukia would not die. Not whilst she could help it. By the time she'd stepped outside of her own thoughts, they were at some place underground. The artificial lights blaring in her eyes. The landscape vast and far. Chinatsu had to hold in a gasp at the sight.

Ichigo reluctantly left the wheelchair in one of the rooms for Tessai and Ururu to tend to her wounds temporarily before he followed them down.

Now that she had the time to think about it as Urahara had walked to some side of the grounds, she wondered. Why did arrancar even attack the shinigami? Why did they even attempt to attack _her_? What gain would they have? Was the world in some infinite war between enemies of hollow and shinigami? Or was it a power game? Who ever would hold the universe in the palm of their hands.

And she thought _humans_ were stupid.

She shook her head. Urahara had stepped up to a gigantic stone door frame. And that's what it was. Just a frame. Chinatsu examined it. Maybe if you looked closer you could see Soul society. That's how it worked, right? She leaned in, stretching her hand through, thinking the inevitable would happen: her hand would appear in the other world.

It was still there. On the other side of the door frame. Urahara chuckled. Her face burned with embarrassment. At her stupidity. Why hadn't she just _asked_ about it rather than going through that? Her eyes averted from anything other than the floor.

"Stand back Chinatsu," he said, walking up to the door. She immediately stepped back at the sound of her name. How did he know it? She hadn't introduced herself.

It must've been the brother. His brother must've told him. That was the only conclusion. Either that or Tessai, Jinta or Ururu told him. That kind of made more sense.

Urahara stood in front of the door frame and lifted his hand up so that it faced it. He took his hat off as he concentrated on the door. Chinatsu didn't manage to hold her gasp in this time, as she saw the swirling clouds forming in the doorway. They turned into something unrecognizable before looking like calm, glowing waters.

So _this_ was the senkaimon. Amazing. It was a marvel. Something that beat any form of technology in the human world.

She walked forward. A hand immediately grabbed her arm from behind,

"Where do you think you're going?" Ichigo asked, looking her straight in the eye.

"To get this Unohana woman to help Rukia. Didn't we already discuss this?" Chinatsu asked, annoyed.

"No you're not. You're looking after Rukia." He said.

"But-"

"No buts." Just as he said this, Urahara's cane pushed his body into two. His human body fell to the ground whilst his spirit body stood. Behind his back was his enormous zanpakuto. By far the largest one she'd seen out of all the shinigami she'd ever met. It had no hilt, but it was covered by a thin layer of material.

"I might not be a ryoka this time, Chinatsu, but that doesn't mean I can just waltz around in soul society as I please," he said in a serious tone, "and it'd be so much easier if I didn't have to protect you whilst Kenpachi tried something on me."

"Who's Kenpachi?"

He sighed, looking at Urahara.

"I'm off,"

Urahara smiled and nodded at him in farewell. Ichigo jumped into the glowing mass of water and disappeared in a flash of light. Chinatsu watched as Urahara replaced his hat onto his head and looked somberly at the senkaimon. A world he couldn't reach or touch anymore.

She wanted to ask him an array of questions, but somehow, by his expression, by the feelings she had within her, and a nudging feeling in the back of her mind, she _knew_ it would make him remember things he didn't want to remember if she asked him. And if _anyone_ could empathize with how annoying it was to revisit those memories, it was her.

Her adoptive parents meant the world to her, but their disappearance was like a cut in her that'd never be able to heal.

The two stood in silence as they looked at the gate. Isshin had said he wouldn't come; he had patients to tend to. Ururu would be tending to Rukia right about now, whilst Jinta got his 'punishment' from Tessai. There was no one but them.

Her curiosity kept flowing continuously in her mind. She had to lock a door in it just so she'd keep her mouth shut. But it got the better of her, as she blurted out,

"How does 'exile' in Soul society work?" she asked. Chinatsu wanted to bash herself in for giving in to her own selfish need for information.

She had awoken him from his daze. His blank eyes refocused at the sound of someone behind him. He'd obviously forgotten she was there. She pursed her lips.

"It's like a filtering system." He said, rubbing his chin now, "I've been blocked entirely from ever going back."

"What do you mean?" she raised an eyebrow. Urahara pondered a way to explain. His eyes lit up at the idea,

"Ahh. Here, watch." He said, walking up to the senkaimon again. He reached toward the watery surface, but an electrifying energy rejected the entry of his hand. The white coils of light moving toward the place his hand was. Seeing that she'd understood, he smiled, taking his hand away. Immediately the electricity seemed to stop.

As much as he kept that smile on his face, Chinatsu could feel the sadness from this realization dawning on him again. She gave him an empathetic smile.

"I wish there was a way to see what Ichigo was up to," she said, bringing him back to a reality where he didn't have to think about his past.

"There is," He motioned for her to follow despite her surprised face.

She felt the relief emanating off him as they walked back up the staircase.

Chinatsu's mouth hung open at the huge screen in the new second floor renovation. There were cobweb like gooey substances holding the screen in place whilst Ichigo's form appeared. At first it was foggy and unclear, but the image gradually sharpened to show clearly his orange streaks of hair and his sharp eyes. His jaw clenched together as he trudged through what looked like darkness.

"How does this _work_?" she had to ask. It wasn't like there was some TV crew following Ichigo's every move like a reality TV show. Urahara, upon seeing her aghast expression, smiled.

"It's a camera based on the spiritual particles in the air surrounding Ichigo," he said matter-of-factly, "this machine looks for the specific ones that are surrounding the specified person within a fifty meter radius,"

"Wow…"

"There's a zoom in and out feature if you want to try?" he said, lifting a little stick up.

It held a little plastic-like ball on it, like the ones on claw machines. Handing it to her, she moved it back and forth, zooming in so they had a close up of Ichigo's nose, and zooming out to see the blackness he was in.

"Of course, you'd have to have a sample of the selected person's spiritual energy. I've collected plenty of Ichigo's from the underground training area," Urahara grinned a toothy grin, "but don't tell him that."

Chinatsu giggled. Since last week, which felt like years ago, she hadn't been able to even produce a smile for her fellow classmates.

She watched him nod at her trivially and look back at the screen. Her eyes flickered to the spot his eyes were. Ichigo. The black surrounding him. It looked like it would engulf him if it weren't for that one icy path.

"Where is that?" she pointed to the black.

"That's a passing world for intruders," at her questioning face, he continued, "Ichigo hasn't been authorized a hell butterfly. It's a black butterfly that shinigami are given so they don't have to go through the passing world."

"Why hasn't he been given one then?"

He sighed,

"Substitute shinigami have been recognized for their powers. But the higher ups find no reason for them to go to Seireitei seeing as they have no one to report to. They aren't part of the gotei 13, thus don't have missions."

"Oh…" she muttered.

She watched Ichigo emerge into a bright light.

"Is there sound on this thing?" Chinatsu asked, looking around the screen to see if there were any buttons.

"Yeah, there is. It's on right now. You just didn't hear anything because there's no sound in the passing world. It's void of anything."

She waited a few moments to confirm what Urahara said when she heard Ichigo's shallow breathing.

"Well he's in," she said, looking at Urahara hopefully, "so all he has to do is find this 'Unohana' woman now right?"

"Not quite," he replied, nodding at the screen.

An older man towered over Ichigo. He wore the black shihakushou that Rukia and Ichigo wore when they separated from their bodies, but it was covered with another layer of white. The shoulders looked like they had been torn off. She maneuvered the stick around to get a better look of him.

Ichigo had stopped when he heard his rugged voice, and saw his jester-like hair with bells on the ends. He had a huge scar on his right eye stretching from his forehead down to the bottom of his cheek and his smile stretched from ear to ear.

"I don't have _time_ for this,"

On the back of the white coat was a huge '11'.


	7. Calm in the storm

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

Chinatsu looked down at Rukia. Not too long ago, her eyes had fluttered slowly open. Her pale face looked at Chinatsu, smiling at her with her white lips.

"Where are we?" she asked, trying to look around without moving.

"We're in Urahara shop," Chinatsu filled her in on all the details that were happening. To what extent her injuries were. Where Ichigo was at that moment. Rukia's eyes widened. She tried to sit herself up, but winced as the pain across her stomach made her lie back down.

"You're injured," she had to remind Rukia as she rolled her eyes, "Even a human would know better than you."

Rukia just looked at her feebly.

"Is he alright?"

"Of course he's alright. It's Ichigo we're talking about here,"

"Has he come across onii-sama yet?"

"No not yet. Though I'd say Ichigo's gonna be in for it, considering Byakuya pretty much _loathes_ him," Chinatsu caught herself before she started laughing. That would've been a stupid move. Rukia turned her head sideways. There was nothing but potted plants and paper screen doors to look at in this room.

"So it's poison huh?" she asked reluctantly, maintaining her eye contact with the door, like Ichigo would walk through it with Unohana any second.

"Mm," Chinatsu said, confidently saying, "but don't worry, Ichigo's got your back. You ain't dying on us any time soon."

Rukia laughed a little, her voice still weak.

"I've never had a poison in me that's made me feel _this_ crap before," she muttered, rubbing her chin in a lying down position as she talked.

"Either way, Tessai has been performing a lot of that glowing stuff,"

"Kido?"

"Yeah what ever. And Ururu's been cooking some gross smelling soup for you. Lucky you weren't awake for _that_ part,"

Rukia chuckled.

"I can taste it in my mouth…" she swished her tongue around a bit, "it's not that bad actually."

Chinatsu scoffed. Muttering 'baka' under her breath. Rukia laughed.

"Thanks," Chinatsu whispered.

"For what?"

_For being such an awesome friend_ she wanted to say, _for protecting me when you really didn't need to_, _for risking your life for me_, _for dealing with the pain of the poison_.

But it was too embarrassing to say, so she looked away as she said,

"Just thanks."

Rukia raised an eyebrow at her.

"So where's Ichigo now?" she asked.

"I don't know. I haven't been in the 'cinema' for a couple of hours now." Chinatsu rolled her eyes.

"Oh…"

"But you missed the epic battle of this 'Zaraki Kenpachi' taichou and Ichigo," Chinatsu laughed, making shapes with her hands and arms as she explained.

"They've fought before," Rukia reminded her, "but Ichigo wasn't as strong back then."

Chinatsu, upon recalling the memory, chuckled. Her eyes shone as she looked at Rukia.

"Your boyfriend is such a wimp," she poked her tongue out at Rukia's wide eyes.

"What?"

"He was like…" and her story began.

_Ichigo stood, his sword still hooked magically onto his back whilst he held his hands up._

"_I don't have _time_ for this!" he yelled at the man._

"_I was just saying hi to my old buddy, Ichigo." The man said._

"_Maybe next time Kenpachi," he tried running past Kenpachi, but his jagged toothed zanpakuto blocked his way._

"_Oi, that's really disrespectful you know," Kenpachi said, his eyes narrowing on Ichigo._

"_I need to get Unohana. It's an emergency. Okay? I'll play with you next time."_

"_Ehh? Icchi's got an emergency? What emergency?" a cute little voice said from behind Kenpachi's back. _

_A little pink haired girl popped up on Kenpachi's shoulder, her dark pink eyes looked at him expectantly. Ichigo sighed, rolling his eyes._

"_I'll tell you when it's not an emergency anymore Yachiru," Ichigo again, tried running past Kenpachi. Again, he was stopped by the teeth of Kenpachi's sword._

_His menacing eyes looked at him. Ichigo sighed again. He looked into the distance briefly before pointing out randomly,_

"_Hey look, is that a menos grande?" his eyes widened as he blatantly lied to distract the two. _

_Kenpachi turned around eagerly whilst Yachiru was forced the other way, still clinging onto his back. When they turned around, Ichigo was gone. _

Rukia laughed as heartily as her weakened form allowed.

"He _really_ did that?" she asked through her snorting.

"What a loser right?" Chinatsu laughed along with her, looking around distracted. Rukia noted it straight away.

"What's going on?"

"Oh. Nothing special," Chinatsu's eyes looked down momentarily as she said this.

"Can I go watch?" Rukia asked nonchalantly, though she somehow sensed there was something up.

"Can you even move with those injuries?" Chinatsu asked back frantically, trying her best to keep Rukia in the room, "Tessai-san said you needed rest."

"Sure thing. I just woke up from who knows how long," Rukia angled her head slightly, thinking, before asking, "how long have I been unconscious?"

"Not long…"

"_How _long?" Rukia was starting to get annoyed by Chinatsu's cryptic behavior.

Chinatsu sat silent. She looked away, as if weighing it out. Would Rukia get mad? Would she be confused? Should she listen to Tessai and Urahara? Did her worries about Rukia's health beat her loyalty to her?

"You've been out… a year," Chinatsu's eyes widened for a couple of seconds. She processed Rukia's face, watching her eyes widen at such a length of time.

"W-Wha-" Rukia was about to begin, but Chinatsu cut her off with her insane laughing.

"Nah just kidding. It's been like, three days."

Rukia gave her a glare. Clearly annoyed that her friend had made a joke in such an important moment. Chinatsu caught the gist of what her friend wanted to yell at her for and quickly added,

"See it's not as bad when you have something larger to compare it to right?"

"…"

Rukia attempted to sit up, but Chinatsu's hands now guided her down. Her eyes looked straight into her best friend's eyes.

"Stay."

"But I want to see-"

"I know you want to see Ichigo, but you've seen him every day of your life since you guys got together. Don't you think it's about time you just gave it a rest? He's on his way back with Unohana-san."

Well. That wasn't _completely_ a lie. It just wasn't the _whole_ truth.

"…"

Her eyes looked like they were about to brim with tears. Chinatsu looked at the door uncertainly, before looking back at Rukia even more uncertainly. Rukia had lay back down, staring blankly at the ceiling, not wanting to hear anymore about what was happening. Chinatsu put the responsibility of entertaining her on her shoulders.

"You know Rukia," she began, "that guy I told you about?"

Rukia looked at her, vaguely remembering their conversation from the other day before nodding.

"Just so you know, it's not Urahara."

She chuckled, still not willing to say anything. In essence, she was sulking.

"The hat, the clothes, even the ugly old straw shoes are the same," Chinatsu made a face, "but it's not him. Is that even _possible_? Does Urahara have a brother or something?"

Rukia shook her head.

"Not that I know of," she whispered. Chinatsu beamed. She had successfully made her friend talk.

"But how would such a handsome boy adapt such an ugly style? Surely it had to be passed on…"

"Maybe he stole it off Urahara's line. He has a line, right?" Rukia made her input into the conversation.

"But if he managed to sneak past Tessai-san, he might as well have snuck into an expensive store and stolen some _nice_ clothes."

"True…"

They both nodded in agreement before cracking up imagining a mini-Urahara stealing his clothes. Rukia was the first to stop. She looked at Chinatsu.

"Can't you just tell me what's happening? You _know_ I'd do the same for you if you were in my position."

Chinatsu stopped abruptly, having been caught. She sighed.

"I _would_ tell you. It's not that you _can't_ know what's happening. You just won't wanna know."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember that time when I showed you something you couldn't un-see?"

Rukia nodded frantically at the memory.

"This is_ exactly_ the type of thing you can't un-hear. As in, when you hear it, you _will_ worry until it happens."

Rukia hesitated. If it were that bad that she wouldn't want to know… But Chinatsu could visibly see the curiosity in her eyes. The _need_ to know what was going on. Although she hesitated, wincing at the pain of moving an inch, she _knew_ what she wanted.

Sighing an exasperated sigh, Chinatsu sat cross-legged on the mats where Rukia lay.

"You know how I said Ichigo was coming back with Unohana?" she asked.

Rukia nodded.

_Ichigo had just escaped the two, running at what felt like the speed of light. Over the years he'd come to Seireitei now and then, but it was all for different purposes. The first, to break Rukia out and save her from execution. Others usually involved the same process of fighting his way through the place, demolishing walls that were in his way whilst he followed certain people's reiatsu. _

_Unohana wasn't one he knew, so he wondered around Seireitei aimlessly. Every now and then he'd turn a corner and find a large door with a '3' or '5' and think he was getting closer, but he'd search in the same general area and find nothing._

_Ichigo yelled._

"_Does __**anyone**__ know where this stupid fourth building is?" _

"_And why would __**you**__ want to go to the fourth division?" a nonchalant voice came from behind him. Though behind the pretense of nonchalance, he could hear a demand._

_Turning around, he saw who he'd expected,_

"_Ahh. It's you."_

"…" _Byakuya twitched slightly in annoyance. _

"_What do you want?" Ichigo asked, still looking around to see if he could spot the building._

"_I asked before Ichigo," Byakuya's calm, but firm tone said. His dull eyes looking menacingly at him, "what is the necessity of you going to the fourth division building?"_

"_I needa get Unohana taichou to help ru-" Ichigo quickly shut his mouth. Byakuya's eyes widened._

"_Rukia?"_

"_No…" he looked around frantically, "I meant Luna! A friend at school," _

_Byakuya gave him a skeptical stare. He left without a word, disappearing into thin air. Of course, by Ichigo's eyes, he could probably see the mechanics of shunpo._

_Chinatsu watched from the screen, using the little toggle stick to move the angle of the camera around to get a better look of Ichigo's face._

"_You idiot," she muttered under her breath._

_He ran through the building as fast as he could. As soon as Ichigo had seen even a glimpse of the number '4' with a bellflower, he ran straight for that direction, which brought him to the fourth division building. _

"_How big is this place?" he muttered, running in. _

"_Oi Ichigo!" One of the members yelled after him, "you can't be here!" _

"_I'll only be a sec," he yelled back. What was that guy's name again?_

_Past corridors and the outside garden, he zigzagged through. Zangetsu tailing behind him in his hand. _

"_Where is the captain of this joint?" he yelled around the empty-looking corridors. Finally, when he'd circled the whole place with no luck, he trudged out. Where were the captains when you needed them? Shaking his head, he stepped into what looked like a hall with beds. _

_Unohana taichou stood beside an injured shinigami. Her hands hovered over the place where the heart would be with a green light glowing on top of it. He drew nearer to her, rewrapping his sword whilst he was at it. _

"_I need your help,"_

_Ichigo went on to explain everything that happened. Everything he __**knew**__ that happened anyway. And no sooner had he finished then Unohana taichou opening the senkaimon, allowing a hell butterfly to guide them to where they stood. _

"So they're here now." Rukia said, eyes wide.

"They are…" Chinatsu continued.

"Why didn't he bring Unohana taichou here?" she sounded hurt. That she was in pain and he wasn't here. Chinatsu patted her shoulder.

"Nobody could've known that Byakuya had followed Ichigo to the fourth division building."

"What?"

"Actually I could… Urahara had to pull me off the screen because I might've crushed it to pieces trying to tell Ichigo he was there…"

Rukia gasped, ignoring the excess information.

"Onii-sama…_followed_ him?" she made a face.

"Mm…" Chinatsu nodded, "There wasn't much of a fight, but he did hear your condition through baka Ichigo."

She continued staring at Chinatsu, expecting her to continue. Chinatsu cleared her throat a bit, trying to prolong the moment that bit longer.

"I tried following Byakuya with the reiatsu thing but Urahara didn't have a sample of his… so it was useless. We had to keep following baka Ichigo until he got back here. I think he went back to his quarters first or something…"

"…" Rukia folded her arms, waiting for Chinatsu to hurry up and tell her what was _actually_ going on.

Chinatsu stared at Rukia. She would _not_ be happy to hear this if she told her. It was hopeless. She looked up at the roof as she heard a door slide open. Not the senkaimon no. A sliding door sliding open then shut as quickly as only reiatsu could do it. A cold shiver went down her spine.

_No_ her mind screamed. _Not yet_

A sweat drop went down the side of her cheek as she looked back at Rukia, whose face was questioning. For her original information she was _supposed_ to have leaked by now, and for her reaction at such a simple thing like a door opening.

"I'm sorry. There's no point telling you now. Just sit and be patient. It shouldn't take too long."

"Chinatsu!" Rukia whined.

The door slammed open. The first thing that came into view was a frown. The top of his black hair was pinned back with elegant silver hair pieces and he wore white clothing that the captains all wore. His zanpakuto was at his side, secured by his waist. Almost threatening. Ichigo's voice in the background yelled,

"Oi, she's sleeping!"

His eyes hovered over to where Chinatsu sat by.

"Rukia."


	8. Symbols

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: Second time I've been able to actively write a message. Just a short message so you can continue reading: please, read in 3/4. It makes the experience so much easier (I realised)

* * *

"Rukia," Byakuya said. His eyes examined her facial expression before hovering to the bloody bandaging across her stomach and leg. Although Chinatsu could sense his horror at what he'd overhead being confirmed, his expression didn't change.

"Onii-sama," she said, trying to sit herself up without twitching from the pain.

"Unohana-taichou, please attend to her,"

Unohana smiled like she did to all people.

"It would've been less stressful if we weren't harassed by a certain big brother on our way here," her smile didn't falter as she walked forward, motioning for Chinatsu to move aside for her to see. Unohana's expression changed whilst she unwrapped the bandages.

"I don't understand how you could sustain such injuries," he pointedly addressed Rukia. "You are an embarrassment."

Rukia looked away, her eyes going watery, but she refused to cry.

Chinatsu's eyes bulged when she saw the raw wounds. They'd gotten deeper. Why hadn't Rukia said anything? She hadn't so much as winced except for when she moved.

"Rukia…" she whispered, tears escaping her eyes for her friend who looked at her blankly. How embarrassing with so many people looking at her. Even Unohana's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the dark purple symbols floating around the wounds. She blinked, obviously wondering if she'd actually seen it.

"This is…" she paused. Astounded.

"This is..." Rukia mimicked, rolling her head to motion Unohana to continue.

"I've only ever seen this once before… but the two had been mauled by a hollow," she said.

"Can you cure it?" Chinatsu asked through her tears.

"I can try." Unohana said, "But it'll be experimenting. If that's okay with you Rukia-san?"

Rukia pursed her lips, thought about it for a second, then nodded. Anything to get her out of this pained hell.

"Okay, could I request for everyone to exit the room," she gestured toward the door, "it'll calm Rukia-san down a bit,"

Byakuya nodded swiftly, immediately leaving. Ichigo gave Rukia a pained expression before looking at Unohana's stern face and leaving as well. Unohana stared at Chinatsu,

"And you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"She can stay," Rukia mumbled, rolling her eyes, "She's a brainiac anyway, this is probably _fascinating_ for her."

Unohana laughed softly.

"If you say so,"

Chinatsu sat against the wall left of Rukia's futon, watching as Unohana taichou pushed the sheets further down, allowing the full view of her friend.

"Stay as still as you possibly can be without tensing," she instructed, pulling out a toolbox Chinatsu hadn't noticed when she walked in.

Rukia closed her eyes, trying to relax herself. Unohana pulled an odd contraption out of the toolbox and pressed something.

In an instant, a flash blinded Chinatsu. Lucky she had been sitting down or she would've fallen in her dizzy state.

"What was that for?" Chinatsu asked.

"It's something like an x-ray in the human world, Chinatsu-san," Unohana smiled politely at her, "but it detects for reiatsu-type substances in the air."

She pondered what Unohana taichou had just said. They could visibly see the purple marks and what not… why did they need that?

Answering her unspoken question, Unohana continued pressing the button as she spoke,

"We need to know the source,"

"Why's that?"

Unohana pursed her lips as she stopped pressing buttons, satisfied with what she saw on the screen of the thing. Thinking her answer through and choosing specific words, she said,

"It is similar to human world hospitals. You keep records of diseases and so on, correct?"

Chinatsu nodded in understanding.

"What are the symbols?" she continued asking.

"I'm not sure," Unohana replied briskly before using her finger to trace the purple symbols. As she did this, she mumbled incantations of some sort. They didn't sound like the usual ones Rukia taught Ichigo. They sounded more slurred.

A flash of yellow blinded her for moments before her eyes adjusted to see the same wounds in the same places. All with the same degree of pain it seemed to hold when she first saw it. Her eyes bounced between the unchanging injuries and Unohana's brooding expression. Obviously something wasn't going as she'd hoped.

"So we need to get rid of it first…" she muttered to herself.

Chinatsu continued watching as Unohana grabbed another thing from her toolbox. A cloth? It was an unusual shade of green, but she placed it on Rukia's stomach injury.

"This is going to hurt," she warned.

Rukia's eyes opened for Unohana to watch her rolling them.

"What could possibly hurt more than now?"

Unohana laughed politely before getting on with her work. Her face crossed with a dark expression.

Again, her facial expression changed as she chanted more unrecognizable incantations. The texture of the sound was different. It was like hearing a whole other language compared to the one before.

Glowing white lines appeared on the cloth. They made out the shapes that were floating around the wounds. This gave Chinatsu hope.

"What's that doing?" she blurted out.

Unohana's concentration broke and the symbols started slowly fading. Their edges gradually burnt away.

"Please," she half wheezed out, "do not disturb."

The symbols had turned black after disappearing. Sighing, Unohana took it off Rukia's stomach and placed it back in her toolbox before grabbing another.

"This is to soak up these 'symbols' as you call them. It'll get rid of the curse," she said, placing the cloth back on.

Chinatsu thought she didn't hear right. She rubbed her ears. Curse? _I thought it was poison_ she said.

"Wait. What? Curse?"

Unohana almost cursed after hearing her ask that. Obviously she didn't want to cause too much unnecessary worry.

"It would be best if the others don't find out," she almost didn't hear Unohana's softened voice, "Rukia's elder brother and lover wouldn't be too happy to hear that."

"True…"

"Then please, I ask for your momentary silence."

Chinatsu locked her lips down tight as she watched Unohana repeat the process of chanting. Watching the green cloth glow with intricate white symbols. They slipped on as if they were gradually being pushed on to the cloth. Like a table of items gradually being pushed on.

Rukia's expression for the whole process had been simply a frown of pain up until then. Her shriek of pain trilled around the room and down the hall. Despite running out of breath every few seconds, her inhalation seemed to be a scream in itself. An unending scream.

Chinatsu winced as she watched her friend. The letters on the cloth slowly printing itself onto it. Out of sheer loyalty to her friend, she didn't cover her ears. She simply watched, wide-eyed at the operation happening before her. What was supposed to be only a few minutes felt like years.

Rukia's hands scratched at the sheets below her, bundling a bit of it in her hands. She kept her eyes tightly shut, forcing them closed. Chinatsu watched as her legs struggled to stay still. Rukia's shuddering.

The slight murmur outside the door had ceased. They had heard. They'd heard her pain and were chilled at the thought of what was going on. In shame of being glad they were given the permission to leave.

The last part of the glowing symbols seemed to be put at an extreme slow compared to the rest. Or was it just Rukia's scream that made the world around her seem like it was going in slow motion? Chinatsu watched in horror as the edge of the final symbol floated into place. Rukia's gritted teeth. The veins popping out on her forehead. And finally her exhalation of relief.

Rukia breathed in and out. In and out. Still exhausted from the shock of it all. Chinatsu did the same. Watching Rukia had felt like she was going through the pain as well.

"That hurt…" Rukia muttered.

"I warned you." Unohana said in her tone of finality.

"You did," Rukia agreed, her face chalk white from the experience, chuckling.

Unohana lifted the sheet of cloth and examined the wound. It was empty of purple symbols. Chinatsu's mood immediately lifted upon seeing that they were truly gone. She felt little versions of her jumping around inside her in glee. She also couldn't help the grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Superb job," Chinatsu nodded vigorously at Unohana.

"Thank you," Unohana smiled, "but it's not over yet."

She motioned toward Rukia's leg which still had purple swirling around in it. Rukia's eyes followed her hand as well and her face visibly paled even _further_ when she saw it herself. Chinatsu sighed, tensing her muscles in preparation for what was to happen next.

"Chinatsu," Rukia's soft, frail voice said, "could you get me a cloth? A towel? Anything in this place to bite on?"

"…" Staring vacantly at her friend, she realized what she wanted and quickly nodded and exited, returning in less than a few seconds. Her face was flushed as she slid the door closed as gently as possible.

Unohana painfully repeated the process. This time, Rukia's silent screams were worse than her actual ones. Watching her eyes pinched shut and her hands gripping the sheets, her head felt like it was going to explode. In her head, she could hear Rukia's pained cries, blasting ten fold from before. This time, as much as she didn't want to, she covered her ears. But it didn't help.

Even when she herself pinched her eyes shut and squeezed her body into a ball shape rocking back and forth, the noise wouldn't leave her ears.

When Rukia went silent, she looked up. Her friend panting.

As Unohana lifted the cloth and hovered her hands over Rukia's body to form a glowing little bowl around Rukia's wounds, Chinatsu had to stand up silently and speed walk out. She walked down the hall. Past the curious stares of the men in the other room. Past all two more rooms and into the bathroom. As she got in, she ran for the toilet and emptied her stomach's contents into it.

Gagging it all out.

Someone had come in after her, holding her long hair back as it all exited. She tried to push them away, but the hand held firm. When she thought everything she'd eaten that morning was gone, she turned around hesitantly. Before she did, she knew. In the corners of her mind, she _knew_ it was him.

Young. Vibrant blonde hair. Hazel eyes. Same hat. Same cane. Same coat.

"Ura…hara?" she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, embarrassed. He looked at her curiously, tipping his head to the right.

"Chinatsu," he slowly paced up to her. Chinatsu tried to shy away, her face turning into a beetroot at the thought of him watching her vomit and smelling it even now.

"What happened?"

She was standing mere inches from him, her smelly breath so close to his beautiful form. She could smell his sweet, warm breath on the tip of her nose. His hazel eyes willed her to tell him. To trust him. But he didn't need to. Upon seeing him, her whole body relaxed. The pain momentarily gone.

"Who are you?" she managed to whisper out in awe.

"Urahara," he said, unfazed by her confused demeanor.

"But Urahara was outside and he's old …" she reasoned.

"I'm Urahara," he said again, his eyes still looking intently into hers.

"What do you _mean_?" Chinatsu demanded. Why was he being so mysterious? How could two people be one? Was there some sort of black magic to the shinigami where you could just change how you looked, or change your age?

Her eyes widened as she watched him begin to glow a gold colour. Was he naturally like this? Shinigami were soul, so perhaps this was his 'colour' per se? But benihime was red.

Symbols started rising off him as he moved. Symbols… similar to the ones on Rukia's body… but a more… gentle curve to them. Neater. More suited for him. For his smile. For his beauty.

_Mine_ something in her said possessively. It shocked her that she'd think something so irrelevant to the situation at hand. Her mind was objective. Objective. Chinatsu tried convincing herself.

He smirked, then turned his head at the first sound of footsteps. At that, he swung one arm around her in a half hug and disappeared in a gold flash of light in the rough shape of his body.

_What_ she thought _was __**that**__?_

She backed into the wall beside the toilet and slid down to her knees. Weak and trembling. She grabbed her stomach, the pain that had been withheld by his presence began to knot up again. Her eyes started watering from the discomfort.

Ichigo walked up to her slowly, guardedly. He knew from experience with Rukia that girls could get violent when they didn't want to be disturbed.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sitting a few inches beside her, cramped in the tiny space between the toilet and the wall. She nodded faintly, still gripping her stomach. "So what happened?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Unohana won't let us in yet. She's still healing her but she says that Rukia needs rest anyway…"

Chinatsu sat quiet, looking at the floor. Her memories put the symbols back in her mind. Why did everyone around her have symbols on them? Why? She rested her head on her folded arms that lay over her knees.

"Chinatsu?" Ichigo looked at her oddly.

"Mm?"

"What happened?" he lowered his voice and glanced at her sideways.

"I…" as she began, she looked at him, only to see dark green symbols swirling around his head in large circles.


	9. Traitor

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: Hey guys I'm terribly sorry for taking so long to finish this chapter. All's been hectic as I tried to get around getting my sleeping patterns on track and my computer breaking... *sigh* I hope you'll continue reading though -sorry again! :)

With love,  
Mifuyu

* * *

Chinatsu's ear piercing scream could probably be heard from the other side of town. At the first sign of it, she heard Ichigo quickly cover his ears and stand up, backing away. She'd covered her eyes. Looked down. Scrunched herself up into a tighter human ball then ever. Just as quickly as it started, she shut her mouth and rocked herself back and forth. The pain from the vomit was still stinging in her stomach and her eyes were still watering.

She chanted comforts to herself methodically, but they came out sounding weird to her,

"It's okay. They're not dark coloured. It's okay…"

Chinatsu rocked back and forth. Back and forth. She tried so hard not to think about them. The symbols floating around his head. The symbols floating around Urahara… and the symbols that almost killed Rukia.

Footsteps could be heard rushing to where the scream had come from. Two sets… three sets…

"What's going on?" Tessai asked, his moustache moving as he talked. He examined the scene in front of him. Chinatsu bent near the toilet, rocking… Ichigo standing with his ears covered and still backing away slowly. He looked at Ichigo accusingly.

"I didn't do anything!" he lifted his hands in a surrendering position, "I asked her what happened… like why she ran away and she started screaming."

Tessai nodded. Appearing behind him was Jinta, Ururu and slowly pacing toward them, Urahara.

Chinatsu felt his presence walking slowly up to the door. She could feel the smile mixed with worry on his lips. But she could also feel the difference. It was not _her_ Urahara –as she'd already become accustomed to saying. Keeping her head down, she continued to rock back and forth.

"Does it hurt?" Tessai walked up to her. His body builder like body shaded the unnatural light from her as he kneeled down.

She nodded meekly.

"Here, we'll go get you some medicine."

She gave him a small whimper. Chinatsu didn't want to lift her head. What if Tessai-san was covered in symbols? What did it mean? What were those small loops and lines meaning? At the same time, in the back of her mind she _knew_ what they meant. Or she supposed her mind was guessing.

"I… don't want to look up," her soft voice travelled only to Tessai-san, "I'm scared."

He went silent as he heard the strange language coming out of her mouth. She pinched her lips together quickly. Chinatsu felt a strange feeling coming off of him, so she took a shaky peek above her arms to see his shocked expression.

Her sigh of relief at no symbols was overshadowed by her worry at his expression.

"What?" she asked, feigning not having heard what she said. Tessai shook his head, looking at her strangely, before composing himself and lifting her up in a princess carry. She squealed when he did, it was so unexpected.

"Um. Tessai-san it's okay. I can walk."

He grunted, his eyes disappearing behind the light of his glasses. Popping her down, her stomach was in so much pain she ended up in a crouch, gripping her arms in sheer regret as she shook violently.

"Didn't think so," he mumbled, picking her back up again. Her face turned a darker shade of red.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered, looking away. After signalling for the others to stay put whilst he took her up, Tessai walked toward a different room from the one Rukia was being treated in.

As much as she wanted to ask where they were going, the thought of asking something stupid made her shiver.

Tessai effortlessly shifted her onto one arm whilst he slid open the door. The room's lighting was dim, but Chinatsu could just make out a futon. The pain in her stomach reminded her that it was still there.

He placed her down onto the futon, opening a cupboard that she hadn't noticed upon walking in. After mixing a few liquids together, he handed her a cup of cold fluid.

"Drink," was all Tessai said as he stared down at her with crossed arms. Chinatsu held the cup to her lips, trying to see the colour, with no avail. The vibe emanating off Tessai told her that if she didn't drink it soon, he'd make her. She quickly tipped it into her mouth in one gulp.

The pain in her stomach was immediately gone. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Wow, this stuff's amazing! Is this some sort of shini-" her eyesight went blurry as she watched Tessai grunt and walk out, sliding the door closed behind him.

The darkness in the room spiralled around her as she looked at what looked like the door,

"Tessai…san?"

And in an instant, her body went limp as her whole world went black.

Her dreams were strange. Filled with dulled colours of the world and people she'd never met greeting her, cheering her on. Strange people followed her, symbols emanating from their skin. In her dream she drifted and floated to all places in this world, enjoying the science behind everything. But the symbols followed her everywhere. Red, green, yellow, pink. And strangely enough, she understood them. Though the skill was forgotten when she slowly blinked her eyes into consciousness.

How long had she been out for? What did Tessai make her drink? She felt a mix of depression and betrayal. Why would Tessai _do_ that? She sniffed as her eyes became blurry with pre-tears.

She slowly sat up. The pain was already gone from her body before she was drugged asleep. Thinking back, maybe it was part of the medicine? But what kind of medicine had drug effects? She pondered for a moment before lifting herself up and sneaking out. The air in the room was eerily cold but as she stepped into the hallway, the temperature changed dramatically.

She followed the murmur she heard, coming from a room downstairs. Tip toing past the stairs and behind the room door, she eavesdropped.

"That wasn't necessary,"

"She's _dangerous_!" Tessai said.

"I'm not so sure of that," Urahara's gentle voice said. She almost shivered from the lusciousness of it.

"We've been getting rid of _them_ for centuries, why stop now?" he asked disbelievingly.

"We're not stopping our activities… it's just… this girl is… different," Urahara managed out.

"Yes, she's _very_ different. She doesn't resemble the usual look of them but she can speak it! I heard her! What if you're not looking and she curses you?"

"..."

Tessai stood expectantly as Urahara pondered the notion in his arm chair. Chinatsu looked down at her feet as she froze, waiting for an answer.

"I can't imagine it," he finally said.

"Is this your decision? Risking your life for something you're unsure of?" Tessai grunted, clearly annoyed with Urahara.

Urahara simply nodded and clasped his hands together into fists holding up his chin as he leaned forward on the desk.

"Very well then," Tessai said, storming out. Chinatsu quickly rushed back up the stairs as quietly as she possibly could and ran back into her room. She lay down, hoping to god nobody saw her. Especially Tessai. So he _did_ drug her. With what concoction? Online they said when people drugged a drink, it tasted funny. But the drink he gave her just tasted sweet.

She closed her eyes as the door opened. Tessai looked in, grunted and slid the door closed again, trudging back to the room Rukia was being kept in. Was she alright? Had she woken up yet? The thought bugged her.

Opening her eyes, she jumped in surprise when she couldn't see anything. Had she turned blind? The room had gone from dim to pitch black. She lifted her hand and waved it in front of her face frantically. Nothing. Crawling and feeling the door with her hand, she tried sliding it open. But it was shut tight and wouldn't budge. Had Tessai locked it? Were these traditional style doors even _able_ to lock?

The temperature in the room dropped considerably. Almost icey cold. It was like walking through winter again. What was happening? She tried yelling for help but her voice wouldn't come out. Shivering from the cold, she slid under the blanket again for as much warmth as she could get. But the temperature just kept dropping.

Was this Tessai's doing? Was he going to kill her because of Urahara's hesitation to kill her? Why did they even _want_ to? She asked herself angrily. _I'm not special… I'm human_ she repeated the words her adoptive parents had repeated to her over and over again as a child. What kind of threat would she be? Perhaps she'd be annoying… but not _dangerous_.

Struggling with the cold, she breathed out. Chinatsu could almost feel the cold air smoke being formed from her exhalation. Facing upward, she mentally sighed in defeat.

_So this is it, huh?_ This was how she was going to die. She lay still… waiting. But the temperature had stopped falling. What did they want with her anyway? Freezing her to death would be the nicest way of dying –she'd reckoned. If Tessai wanted to kill her, he'd have an array of things he could do to torture her or kill her quickly. But freezing?

Shaking her head, she gripped the blankets closer to her.

A soft scratching sound began on the ceiling. Chinatsu jumped and shivered at the noise. What was that? What business did it have with her? She shivered again, not from the cold, and reached for the door again. She tried scratching her way out, but her nails weren't long or strong enough. She beat against the door, hoping someone would hear but no one came. She tried another attempt at screaming. Why? She had been accepting her fate so easily, but then why did a small noise make her want to curl up and scream.

The scratching returned, this time slightly louder than the last time. A strong sense of dejavu washed over her. Almost like a flashback, or was it just her spacing out?

_Her breathing sped up as she scratched at the wood in__ front of her, screaming silent pleas of help. The rope around her legs and wrists was tied so tight it burned her skin as she moved. The scent of wood filled her. __**Coffin**__ was the word that came to mind. The small cramped space locked her in. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't … breathe. _

Claws broke through the ceiling, bringing her back to reality. They were white bone-like talons creating a huge scratch mark in the ceiling as it forced its way in. Although she knew they belonged to some sort of hollow –the feeling was natural now, the stars she saw and the air it brought in calmed her down. Her forehead and her clothes were soaked with her cold sweat.

The claws dug in making more crashing sounds until it stomped its way in, and blew the ceiling in. She coughed as the dust flew everywhere. The humanoid looked back at her. Ahh, an arrancar. In an instant, it was standing in front of her, its talons pushing her down in a death grip.

She looked up at her calmly. Strange how she was so used to using pronouns for hollows now. Her blazing hair glowed as it fell onto Chinatsu's slender cheeks.

"Why?" she asked, knowing full well the arrancar understood what she was asking. The arrancar looked at her but didn't look her in the eye. Her death grip loosened a bit as she hesitated. Her talons still threatening her to stay still. Blood from where the bony fingers had strangled started seeping out.

The arrancar mumbled something, letting go completely. Chinatsu sat up, completely unafraid now. She crawled up to the arrancar slowly, looking her directly in the eyes.

"What is your name?" she asked curiously.

"…" the arrancar stopped for a moment, looking her up and down, deciding whether or not to trust her.

"Rosa," her voice softened as she spoke. It sounded almost like… nerves? Chinatsu's eyes were still locked on her beautifully glowing silver eyes. Were all hollow so beautiful? She craned her neck to see the arrancar's buried face.

"Rosa…" she repeated. Her soft voice seemed like a yell in the silent room. Funny how there was no running footsteps to try and save her from this arrancar. Why was it that she was never saved immediately from the interaction with these people? But did she want to be saved? That was the question.

She gazed at the beautiful figure in front of her. Silent. Brooding. What did she want?

"Rosa is such a beautiful name," she said, "it means rose…doesn't it?"

The arrancar lifted her head and stared at her with longing eyes. Pleading eyes. Strange. Where had she seen this before? It really was a night filled with dejavu.

"Rosa, why did you want to… kill me?"

Rosa's eyes turned blank as she remembered the original orders that she was to fulfil. She eyed the small trickle of blood that had frozen from the freezing cold temperature of the room. Finally, her eyes looked straight into Chinatsu's with another pained expression.

"Because… you're a traitor."


	10. Traitor II

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: I managed to upload it so soon? big o-m-g much. School's started and all the attention's on work now so s'cuse me if there are any general story errors / grammatical / spelling errors. I'll try and update asap though since I love the amazing response I've been getting for my story thus far :)

Thanks for reading.

love,

Mifuyu

* * *

"Because… you're a traitor," Rosa said through gritted teeth. She looked away solemnly. Chinatsu's mouth was agape as she heard this.

"Wh-" was all she could manage in her shock. Traitor? Of what? The hollow _race_? "I … don't understand."

The arrancar looked at her with a raised brow, then her blank eyes turned furious at the memory. She lunged forward, knocking Chinatsu back against the wall. She felt a bone crack somewhere through the immense pain. She couldn't quite pinpoint it though, as the pain was already spreading throughout her body. Chinatsu fell to the floor directly after, unable to move.

Her eyes widened as Rosa's leg came flying at her head. Chinatsu lifted her arms up into an 'x' above her head, trying to protect it but to no avail.

_Crrrrrkk_ went her arm bone. Her body parts went numb. She couldn't help the scream that echoed around the room, alarming even the arrancar. Despising the moment the sound left her lips, the temperature dropped even further. The door probably still locked. Nobody could hear. Nobody would come. She'd die for someone else's wrong doings perhaps?

"I don't know what you're talking about…" her voice came out hoarse. This 'Rosa' girl didn't even _confirm_ whether it was the person she was looking for or not. A mere human getting punished by an arrancar for what sounded like a hollow's problem! Preposterous! Though perhaps if she took it all in, the other girl would be spared.

Rosa's face distorted, stuck in her memories of a girl that perhaps had some resemblance to her. Her leg again came flying into Chinatsu's stomach as she screamed,

"You know!" her shrill voice accused, "We loved you. _Revered_ you!"

We? There were more that hated her? For _what_? Chinatsu coughed out blood as the leg landed on her stomach.

"And you… you left us," she fell down in a heap in front of her. Rosa sobbed a tearless sob. "How could you?"

"I…" Chinatsu's face screwed up. Rosa obviously loved this girl more than she had ever imagined.

"You know," she interrupted, lifting her head to look at Chinatsu, "you're the one who named me Rosa."

Chinatsu's eyes widened. In her uncomfortably dislocated position, she was unsure of herself. What? _I_ named her Rosa? Her head spiralled as she tried to regain composure.

Light footsteps ran up to her room. The hands tried to lug the door open but failed. Tessai banged on the door with his fist.

"Are you okay?" he asked, slamming the door constantly. It was paper. Why couldn't he just tear it open?

As if she had read her mind, Rosa said,

"It's my ability. That door is as tough as steel now… like the thorns of a rose," her voice died out at the end.

Chinatsu saw Tessai's blood gradually appearing on the door from punching it. He was hurt. He had punched the door and blood had come out. She looked back at Rosa.

"…amazing.." she said, examining Rosa through the numbness she now felt. Rosa's eyes widened at her praise. A pained, unsure expression crossed her face. With the one hand that was connected to the unbroken bone, she tapped the floor in front of her. Rosa stared at her incredulously. She had just beaten the girl up senseless and here she was, willing her to come forward.

Chinatsu was leaning on the wall as her legs and arms were sprawled in odd positions in front of her except for the one arm. Rosa crawled up to her hesitantly at first, then lay her head on Chinatsu's thighs.

Chinatsu's unbroken hand stroked her fiery red hair. Why did she feel so empathetic toward the girl? Didn't she just try to kill her? The back of her mind told her, _she was going easy_.

"Tell me," Chinatsu's voice whispered.

Rosa looked up at her sadly, closing her eyes as she spoke. Chinatsu looked up at the door. There were three silhouettes standing there, yelling something she could no longer hear. Had Rosa done that?

"I missed you so much oujo-sama," her voice softened. "you were like a breath of fresh air every day… but then you just up and left. Why did you leave? I didn't know what to do when you left. I kept asking myself, what do I do without you? What can I do? We needed you so much. And you just left. I was so lost, wondering where you went. I thought you just took your daily leave again…

"But then you never came back. I wondered where you went. I tried tracking you down, but you're essentially untraceable because… well you know."

Chinatsu in fact, did not know. But she nodded, willing Rosa to go on. She was finding more and more about this girl…

"And then they said you died… and I was devastated. I mourned for you every day, hoping in vain that it wasn't true. That you were actually alive. But it was a vain hope. So I was on the brink of giving up. But I came to the human world, hoping to find your human form. Perhaps I'd find you in your human form. I searched the whole world for you. Karakura town was the last place. The last place… and then I would give up. Then I found you. Here. Alive. I was so angry that I found you. It meant that you actually _left_ us. Of your own will. And hid out here.

"But I see now…you don't know me. Which means something has happened. I don't know what. But I'll find out. I'll make you come back to us oujo-sama, I will!"

It was hard to accept all the facts so quickly. This girl… had searched the whole earth looking for this one girl. She could understand why she'd easily mistake her for her oujo-sama. If anyone was so desperate to find her, they'd probably hallucinate that they looked similar.

"How long?" Chinatsu asked.

"Oh. Many years." Rosa replied casually, shrugging.

"How many years?" she made a disapproving face at Rosa.

"A couple of centuries." Rosa shrugged again.

"… Centuries?" Chinatsu stared at Rosa incredulously. Of course the girl was dead. The oldest person she'd ever seen was only just over a century old.

"But you are… forever, my lady," Rosa took Chinatsu's broken hand and lifted it to her lips.

Chinatsu shivered.

"I'm not her," it was barely audible, but Rosa obviously heard it.

"Of course you are, there is no difference in appearance."

"And that's where the similarity stops," Chinatsu made a face. "I'm sorry…"

"No. I will not accept this." Rosa's intense eyes looked at her, "You _are_ my master, oujo-sama."

"I'm not. Please leave. Please find her. Because I'm not her."

"Don't worry oujo-sama, I'll reintroduce myself, I'll reinvent myself to suit you. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth!" her fearful eyes looked into hers.

Touched by her dedication, it gave Chinatsu more determination than ever to get this girl to go find her actual master.

"Then listen to me," Chinatsu said, grimly preparing to say what she had to.

"Yes oujo-sama?" her eyes lit up.

"Leave. Never come back. Never return here. Do not keep tabs on me. Do not follow me. In fact, go back to heuco mundo. Surely, someone who looks exactly like me will already be here. In the centuries that you were gone, my clone will have returned there. Find her. And leave me." Chinatsu stared at the arrancar with unwavering eyes.

Rosa's enthusiasm was crushed so harshly, Chinatsu wanted to hug her. But she obliged,

"… Yes, oujo-sama," she stood up mechanically and bowed with one hand on her chest. Her hair fell in locks in front of her. As she began her slow walk away, she gave Chinatsu one last pained look before jumping up and out.

The change was immediate. The temperature in the room rose dramatically, and the room had a slight glow to it. Chinatsu closed her eyes. So tired from the drama that had just occurred.

The door was immediately slammed open.

"Chinatsu," Rukia looked at her in a mix of astonishment, shock and rage. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know," she lied, deepening Rukia's frown. "I don't know what happened. Everything went black…"

She tried her best confused look. After all, it wasn't _completely_ a lie. Just not the whole truth. She smiled weakly at her best friend.

"You…" Rukia looked at her literally broken friend and grabbed her in a hug. Quickly turning back, she yelled, "Well Tessai are you just gonna _stand there and __**watch**_?"

He jumped and quickly leaped forward. This time, he went into the cupboard and broad out a kit. It looked old and battered, made out of bamboo and unusually large –almost the size of a briefcase. He opened it to reveal concoctions of all sort and mixed a few together before handing the cup to her. Rukia snatched it off him,

"I'll do it," she insisted, gently putting the cup up to Chinatsu's lips. Chinatsu chugged it down as fast as she could, hoping the numbed pain to never emerge.

"Now, you." He pointed to Rukia, "leave please."

"But-!"

"It'll be a long process. Leave."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Fine. But tell me as soon as you're done."

"Yes of course. Now go. Ururu," Chinatsu hadn't noticed the small girl holding a small box in her hands until then, "come."

Ururu immediately ran up behind Tessai, holding the box up like a crown. A prized possession. As Rukia bitterly left, Tessai opened the box lid, revealing odd cheap-looking gloves. Chinatsu raised an eyebrow, still in her half sitting position, too afraid to look at her injuries.

"My hands get worn easily," he said, as if answering her mental question, "with the amount of healing kido I have to use, it will be almost certain my hands will wither away."

"I see…" she pondered.

Facing the door to the room, Rukia shuddered at the sight of Chinatsu. Bones sticking out where they shouldn't be, blood everywhere, guts almost hanging out. It had taken all she had to not gag in front of Chinatsu. The blood from Chinatsu's torso had smeared her outfit. Sighing, she didn't bother with it. Right now, her best friend was all that mattered. Turning around, she saw a flicker of orange followed by an outraged face.

His eyes scanned her from head to toe and they widened at the blood on her shirt.

"What happened?" Ichigo looked at the door to the room furiously.

"It's not my blood." Rukia said numbly. She knew this would happen.

"Then who's…?" he looked at her grim face, the room she came out of … and connected the dots. His eyes widened further, "Chinatsu-!"

"Tessai and Ururu are treating her." She stated, still quite affected by the sight of Chinatsu, "you probably don't want to see her…right now…"

As much as she tried to hide it, the shock of not being able to protect her best friend took over her. The guilt of her unconsciousness. Tears flowed out of nowhere as she desperately tried to gather her emotions and lock them away, but she couldn't stop the flow. Why was she so weak?

Ichigo grabbed her in a bear hug, hiding her face in his chest. He stroked her hair softly.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know…"

Rukia sniffed,

"I was right THERE," she reasoned, "I could've-!"

"No one felt the reiatsu. No one. Not me. Not even Byakuya or Urahara. If they couldn't then neither could you. It's our fault. Not yours."

Rukia shook her head. Why was he being so _nice_? Why was he treating her like the victim here? Sometimes it was so _frustrating_. Her sobbing stopped and she rubbed her eyes on his shirt.

"What happened when you got here?" he asked, leaning down to look her in the eyes. His intense look gave her so much determination.

"A-after I ran here, I watched Tessai try opening the door… but it was locked. And he kept punching and hitting the door but he just got blood all over it. I don't know what happened! The door's paper! I-I…"

Ichigo sighed and pulled her back into a hug.

"It's alright…She's fine…"

Rukia stayed silent. Ichigo hadn't seen her. He hadn't seen the white protruding from the broken skin. She hadn't seen the red pool beneath her. She didn't even think _Chinatsu_ herself had seen it. By the calamity on her face it was obvious.

"Shh…" he continued uttering soothing words as he rocked her gently in that hallway.

Urahara watched the scene unfolding in front of him. His gigai had crumbled away whilst he was within what he called the "restricted zone" which was a certain number of meters away from her. The bags on his eyes seemed to deepen with the ever-growing scowl on his face.

He looked down, examining the dirt on his zanpakuto. Skilfully, he shook the red lock of hair mixed with blood off benihime and sheathed it.


	11. Built on Lies

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: This may just be the most awkward chapter I've ever had to write. Believe me, I feel more awkward then you do right now. Also, although it may seem like such a bludge right now, everything in this chapter is necessary for the continuing of the storyline. Thanks for sticking with me this entire time. :)

love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Sighing in relief, she laid her head down on the pillow. There was no pain through the whole healing process. Thinking back to what happened, she thought herself lucky. After the incident, she was put into the room Rukia had been treated in whilst Tessai went with Ururu to diligently mend the roof of the other room.

Chinatsu looked at nothing in particular as she replayed the healing scene in her head.

_Tessai pulled on the gloves. After she'd questioned him, he'd immediately gotten to work, muttering incantations –kido? Before a glowing green light mended her skin. She watched incredulously as the edges of gashes slowly pulled towards each other. Her eyes skimmed back to Tessai's concentrating figure._

_He licked his dry lips as tiny beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Was it really that much work? To heal? How did Unohana-taichou do it so flawlessly then? Chinatsu pondered many things whilst trying to ignore the ticklish feeling. _

"_Chinatsu-san." Tessai said, his eyes still firmly locked on what he was doing. She looked up at him alarmed by his sudden willingness to speak. _

"_Yes Tessai-san?" _

"_I'm very sorry for what I said,"_

_Chinatsu raised an eyebrow. What had he said in the silence prior to the start of the conversation that he thought might've offended her?_

_His eyes flickered to hers quickly before they were back on her bones re-joining at her hip. _

"_Whatever are you talking about?" Chinatsu asked. _

"_You were there when… when Urahara-san and I were talking," his face flushed in embarrassment. _

_Realising what he was talking about, Chinatsu's eyes lit up,_

"_Oooh! That. Don't worry! I don't mind." She smiled cheerfully. _

_He looked at her with certain degrees of chagrin in his eyes._

"_It's just that," he continued, ignoring what she had said, "You are… well… you are… different. Urahara-san – he… doesn't know your capabilities. He doesn't know the destructive power. That is why I warned him to be rid of you."_

_At Chinatsu's even more confused face, he continued,_

"_We've been hunting people like you since we were captains. The royals insisted that your kind was a danger, and yes, you have proved to be dangerous over the years. I don't see why Urahara doesn't __**see**__ that either…_

"_There was a case with another…whom at the time we didn't know of, and they massacred a whole district of soul society. All out of a hateful greed for power."_

_He looked down, his eyes gaining a hollow feeling they didn't have before, as if the memory itself had haunted him for his whole life._

"_Tessai…san. I think you have the wrong person… I don't know why everyone keeps mistaking me for this mysterious girl. But it's not me…" Chinatsu fervently insisted. At his accusing face, she reddened with anger, "You saw me didn't you? You saw how I turned out. I'm __**human**__! For god sake! I was kicked around like a bloody __**beanbag**__ and you still think I'm __**dangerous**__?" _

_Chinatsu's voice reached a higher pitch than it ever had. _

"_I heard the…"_

"_Don't use some random 'evidence' to make me __**her**__ okay? I'm __**completely**__ different. You all think I have some information on whatever crap this chick did. But I don't. Because it's __**not**__ me. God." Her voice, although angry, had cracked slightly. Her body, having been temporarily paralysed stopped her from moving, allowing her to only look the other way as her vision blurred from the offended tears. _

_She felt Tessai's stare on her as she had her little hissy fit._

"_My mistake Chinatsu-san." His voice had softened as he rolled her over to heal the bruises on her back and spine, "It's been many centuries since I've made such a … grave mistake."_

_A heavy feeling landed in Chinatsu's stomach. Why was he lying? Why did she __**know**__ he was lying? She closed her eyes, hoping that when he was done, he'd realise her pretence of sleep and just leave her alone. _

The door to her room slammed open.

"Oi! You're up?" Rukia yelled, half angered yet mostly excited that her friend was up and running again. "I was so _worried_."

Chinatsu immediately forgot her brooding silence and smiled a genuine smile at Rukia.

"How are you?" she asked, almost _too_ politely. Rukia looked at her wide eyed and ran up to her in a bear hug.

"I can do this now, right? It doesn't hurt?"

When she didn't hear anything, she looked down at Chinatsu's pale, merging onto green face and immediately loosened her grip.

"Phew," Chinatsu puffed out. "So I guess you're alright."

"I was alright before you got your treatment."

"Was just saying…" she looked out the door, "where's Ichigo? I thought you'd be glued to the hip by now considering you saw me…"

Chinatsu stopped as she watched Rukia look down with a slight grin. Her blush spread from her cheeks all the way through to her ears. Playing with her fingers in her lap, she kept her stare down. Why was everyone doing that to her these days?

"Ichigo's… showering,"

Chinatsu raised an eyebrow. Her eyes flickered from the sun that was seeping through the blinds and back to Rukia.

"Showering? Why would he need to shower? Did he fight someone? What time is it?"

Rukia looked at her incredulously. Chinatsu thought about it for a second. Shower. Midday. Rukia had seen her when she was perhaps at her worst…Blood… gore… emotions running high… good-chance-to-take-advantage-of-sad-girl opportunity for Ichigo…

Gasping in shock horror, or was it admiration? Amazement? As she looked at her friend in a whole new light.

"You… you _didn't_!" the words flew out of her mouth.

"I don't know! It just… _happened_!"

"Yooouuuu _didn't_!" Chinatsu's mouth hit the floor. They were the only words that she could muster in that moment. Her face became like a fish's. Her mouth constantly opening and closing, like a bubble of air would escape her mouth the next time it opened.

Rukia sat up, looking Chinatsu straight in the eyes,

"It felt right."

"_What _is _right_ about **that**?" her eyes widened, "you know how I feel about… you know… before marriage!"

"But… we're going to…one day… when we're ready."

"No. NONONONONO! That's not how the system _works_!" Chinatsu's hands covered her ears. Her eyes pinched shut. Rukia grabbed her arm, trying to make her listen.

"You're the only one I've told. The only one I could trust…"

"You shouldn't have told me!"

"Why not?"

"Now I have to live with the burden of knowing that you're… you're…" Chinatsu shivered.

"What? I'm _what_, Chinatsu?" Rukia's voice turned ice cold. "I told you because I trusted you."

"Trusted me to _what_?"

"To not tell anyone. Just us girls … Girl talk. In my whole life… you're the only one I could have… you know… 'Girl talk' with."

Chinatsu shivered at the thought of having to discuss these things with Rukia for the rest of her unmarried life. She looked at Rukia, tears in her eyes as she thought of all the horrible possibilities that could happen. The goo of life. The pain of the abandonment of what would be just considered the _thing _that ruined Rukia's life. Her place in the gotei 13. Her competence to defend soul society. Her competence to protect the souls…

"I… I don't want that." Chinatsu's voice turned to a whisper. "You know… I told you. I told you what happened… what …mummy did… daddy…did… they…"

Rukia's eyes softened as she grabbed Chinatsu's sobbing form in a hug. The girls were almost exactly the same height so caressing her cheeks wasn't a great feat for Rukia. Chinatsu's blond white hair felt matted against her neck from lying down for so long.

"That won't happen." Rukia said in a firm voice, "The thing with shinigami is that… no matter what… it's not _biologically_ possible unless you give up your shinigami position. The reiatsu fills … that place."

Looking down at Chinatsu, she had become the abandoned little kid she'd locked away again. Rukia brushed the hair away from her face, as she continued hushing her.

"I know what you're thinking…" Rukia looked away, letting Chinatsu lean on her shoulder as she mumbled out awkwardly, "I'll end up just like your parents. That I'd abandon the thing like… well…Even if I did… have it…It's _never_ go through what you did. Okay? I can promise you that."

The silence that followed convinced Rukia that Chinatsu hadn't been listening, that she wasn't going to answer, or she didn't _want _to answer. She tensed up at the thought of this being her last moments as Chinatsu's 'friend' before she became the 'shinigami chick I used to know'.

"You … promise?" the whisper was almost inaudible, but she'd caught it just in time. Rukia's face lit up as she answered to the large pleading eyes staring up at her from her shoulder,

"Yes,"

As Chinatsu's eyes gradually closed, Rukia lay her down. Ichigo decided to walk in at that moment, a towel wrapped glued to his head as he rubbed his hair dry. His face was positively glowing as he looked at Rukia.

"Hey you-" he walked in for a kiss but was silenced by Rukia's forceful shush and index finger covering her mouth. Having noticed Chinatsu's tear smeared cheeks and Rukia's hovering, he slowly backed out.

* * *

Ururu came running into the barely lit room. Her feet made a pit and pat sound every tiny step she made. Chinatsu woke up feeling pathetically groggy. She could feel the familiar symptoms of a bad case of bedhead and eye booga. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to focus them on the formally dressed girl in front of her. She squinted to see through the darkness.

She could just make out the glittering pink clip brooch on the girl's glittery light pink attire. How old was she? Wasn't she around thirteen or something? Pink? Really?

"Chinatsu-san," her shy voice was not shy anymore as she held out the coat hanger in front of her. The black and white gown hanging on it was quite exquisite. Something you would only see in old English movies or fashion runways. Rukia's voice came from behind Ururu,

"Put that on and I'll put your make up on,"

Trying to recollect what happened. The Tessai accusation, the Rukia talk, the crying… Why so much crying? Then the sleeping… Her voice came out in a dried croak,

"How long have I been… out?"

"Oh… not long." Rukia shrugged. There was no trust when it came to time with Rukia. So Chinatsu was left to ask with a raised eyebrow,

"_How_ long?"

"Just two weeks."

Oh. It had only been two weeks. Before the thought processed, Chinatsu looked at nothing in particularly glumly before her eyes widened and she jumped up from the futon.

"Two weeks?"

"You were exhausted. You didn't tell me you hadn't slept after Tessai's healing. I shouldn't have…got you so worked up." She looked away guiltily.

"Oh. Okay." Chinatsu rolled her eyes, "I'm just going to accept the fact that I slept for two weeks without being so much as stirred from all the racket that goes on around here."

"You did… Tessai silenced the area around the futon until you woke up on your own. In fact, all humans would be able to sleep as long as you if there wasn't so much noise pollution."

"…"

"Here," she grabbed the coat hanger from Ururu, who immediately left, and shoved it into Chinatsu's lap, "put this on and come outside when you're ready."

"What's happening?"

"It's a surprise." Was all Rukia said as she left. The light from outside shone onto Rukia's figure, but before Chinatsu could catch a glimpse at what she was wearing, the sliding door slid shut.

She cursed the whole time, trying to fit the outrageous length of what felt like fluff on her skin, the layers upon layers of material getting tangled and mixed. What was happening anyway? She bit her tongue when she tripped over an edge of the thing.

"Argh!" she yelled out in frustration. There was a tap on the door. Rukia's laughing followed by an,

"Are you okay?"

Chinatsu felt like snapping at her. Like using her friend's secret, could it really be considered that? To guilt trip her every single day for the rest of her life.

The darkness made the whole process so much harder than it needed to be. But finally, after what seemed like forever, she requested Rukia's help in zipping up the bodice from the back.

"Took your time," Rukia scolded, "you still need to do you make up… we're gonna be late."

"For what?" Chinatsu had calmed down, enjoying the silky feeling of the dress hugging her skin.

"It's the annual thing I've been telling you about for ages… You said you'd come…!"

"…"

Chinatsu mulled over it for a moment as she stood there. She vaguely remembered Rukia gushing over some shinigami underworld party that was of equivalent importance of an aristocrat ball from centuries ago.

"Oh."

"Don't 'oh' me. Let's go."

As Rukia emerged into the light, her purple dress twisted around her so elegantly, Chinatsu let out an amazed gasp. The folds and texture had her eyes glued to the gown. Her hair was tied up with sparkling jewelled lace that seemed to float in the air and around her neck, on her ears and tied onto her wrist were diamonds of all shapes and sizes. Her long fringe framed the side of her slender face.

"You look … beautiful." Chinatsu's eyes were glued to her. Rukia laughed at this.

"Trust me. Nobody will be looking at me tonight once I'm done with you."

She dragged her down the hall where the make-up was all set up around a mirror Chinatsu had never seen.

"When did…?" Two weeks rang through her mind loud and clear.

Rukia pulled out an array of different tools Chinatsu couldn't recognise. She'd never studied make-up before. It was a weak point in her database that she never intended to strengthen.

"What, this out of all times it the time you choose to be questionless?" Rukia chided, rolling her eyes, "The one thing I'm good at…"

"Okay!" Chinatsu caved immediately. "But tell me one thing…"

"Hm?" Rukia worked at her face immediately.

"Is… Urahara…san going to be there?"

"Of course!"

"Oh… okay,"

Rukia mightn't have noticed it, but Chinatsu's cheeks had turned a light shade of pink as the substances were being applied onto her face.

* * *

A/N: P.S. "Urahara Kisuke" chapter (next chapter) will be coming _real_ soon. I'm possibly going to enjoy writing this chapter the most ... !


	12. Urahara Kisuke

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: Ahh! Sweet love. I've been dying to write in Urahara's perspective for AGESSSS. So I'm happy to say that I'm quite happy with this chapter. I hope this whole 'ball' thing isn't boring you... since it's a pretty aimed audience... but it's still relevant-I swear! haha. So please, without further ado, enjoy.

love,

Mifuyu

* * *

His foot tapped the wooden floor making a hollow sound with each tap. His hands were in his pockets but only restrained from doing the inevitable fidgeting. Although he was already in the hall, he had come too early. Unfashionably early. Looking at a reflection of himself in the mirror, his gold white hair slicked back with a pinch of hair still dangling in the front. His tux made him look like a men-in-black character and his pointed and rounded at the tip shoes were so shiny, they shone even in the dimmed room.

Though all this was in the background of what he actually saw. His gigai's complexion was old and with heavy eye bags. His eyes drooped slightly. It was always the perfect disguise. The reason why his life as a bachelor was a quiet one. And his true exiled form was hidden from the world of shinigami.

Even before he was exiled, things were different. He was a scientist, but his brain was far too advanced for his physical form. In soul society he had created his own soul-gigai to defend himself from the disapproving and sceptical elder eyes.

Because of that girl… his life would change. Unless he stayed a nice distance away from her, he wouldn't be able to keep his secret for much longer. That girl popped out of nowhere all the time, how was he supposed to keep a few metres away from her all night?

Why did he feel an unimaginable pull toward that girl?

Like he knew everything about her. Like when their eyes connected, their hearts were connected as well. Urahara Kisuke did not believe in love at first sight. Perhaps extreme lust at first sight, but not love. Yet, the true anticipating heart palpitations he felt every time their hands touched, or their bodies grazed each other's, at such simple movements, a huge surge of emotion would fill him.

What that emotion was, he could not comprehend. Urahara had been through almost every phase of emotion one could go through. Love, loss, lust… But his relationship history would never be known to the world. It was like, through every one of those escapades, there was always something missing. Something he couldn't fathom.

The guests started flooding in, interrupting his thoughts with their loud guffawing and banter. He spun around, ready to continue his old wise man façade with a mischievous smile on his face and a haughty voice.

Yoruichi walked up to him with a confident stride and grin. She stopped just under a metre away from him. In the light, he saw that her usual tied up hair had been let down. The ends reaching down to her waist. Her black sleeveless dress was so tight against her skin, it looked suffocating, but if it was, Yoruichi showed no signs of it being.

"Urahara," her lady-like voice rolled up and down as she spoke, "The one person who bothers coming here annually,"

"What other event is open for soul society's underworld?" he smiled cheekily.

"You're right. Though I hear Yamamoto makes it clear that he doesn't approve of this new laid back attitude,"

"I'm not surprised,"

Another woman walked up to him, one whom he didn't recognise. Though most of the people here he probably wouldn't know. Her hair long, silky hair was a light pink, reaching down the back of her short figure. He literally had to look down to see her. She looked up at him with a blush on each cheek as she asked,

"You are the famous Urahara Kisuke, correct?"

He nodded with a smile plastered onto his face, hiding the chagrin he felt at being referred to as 'the famous'.

"Yes, and you are…?"

But although he asked, he had phased out. Anything that was said, or anything that happened in this room tonight would be nothing more than lonely spirits walking the earth with nonchalant facades. He had nothing he wanted to share with such people.

As the woman's words went in one ear and out the other, his eyes darted from group to group. All held wine or champagne glasses. All the women wore the most revealing dresses they could find, whilst the men wore their tuxedos lazily, opening the first couple of buttons on their shirts.

Sighing in boredom, he looked at the still talking girl and to Yoruichi whose face had gone deadpan as well. What time was it? How long had it been since he had arrived?

As the girl babbled on and on about something or another, his eyes floated toward the door where a glint of light had hit something shiny. His eyes widened as what he was looking at wasn't an object but a woman. Surprised that he hadn't recognised them when they first walked in, Urahara turned in the direction of Rukia and Chinatsu delicately walking in. Rukia's hands were intertwined with Chinatsu's. Although he knew it wasn't that type of relationship, he couldn't help but cringe at the twang of jealousy that ripped through him.

The girl that had been yabbering away stood quietly looking in the direction he was looking. In fact, as he looked around the room, almost all eyes were on the beautiful girl that stood holding Rukia's hand. Nobody had seen her before –that was probably why- he consoled himself. Her natural blonde curls had been half tied up and pinned with real flowers, glowing with the colours of reiatsu infused within their arteries. Her honey brown eyes glowed in the light, and her dainty little smile was contagious. Wrapped around her in delicate folds and lace was a silky black and white dress. Like a wedding dress with a designer edge to it.

Her eyes scanned the room as they neared the bottom of the steps. Where was she looking? Who was she looking for? In the back of his mind, something screamed,

_Me_, or was it his subconsciousness scolding him for not approaching the beautiful girl earlier?

Finally, after watching those eyes roam across the room a couple of times, they met his. Eager, waiting. But they quickly flicked away. What did that mean? Did she want to dance or didn't she?

At the same time, the reasonable side of his brain calmly told him to keep his distance, to not ruin his life just for a girl. But he'd already done that hadn't he? Shaking his head, he focused his attention back on the empty space the tiny girl had been standing before. Spinning around, she was a few metres away, talking away at another male who refused to listen. He silently laughed,

"Well," Yoruichi smiled accusingly, laughing at his blatant obviousness, "I guess you've already found your bed buddy for tonight."

His face twitched as he heard that. Many years back, Yoruichi had been one of his "missing" experiences and she never made him forget it. As he imagined what Chinatsu would do if she found out his history, he shuddered. No telling. He promised no one in particular in his mind.

Yoruichi sauntered up to him, waiting for Chinatsu's eyes to settle on them before she leaned up to have her lips meet his unmoving mouth in a peck.

"Have fun," her thumb traced his lips before she strolled up to a person that had addressed her.

"Damn…" he muttered to himself.

Lifting his head, Chinatsu was not in the place she'd been standing previously. No surprise there. Perhaps she was running away, crying about him having someone else. Perhaps she'd be writhing with jealousy the next time she saw him. This seemed to satisfy him greatly.

Eagerly, his eyes searched the room for where she'd gone off to. But they dulled upon seeing her, perfectly normal, perfectly deep in conversation with one of Rukia's associates, and perfectly beautiful. He sighed.

But at the same time, something in him was relaxed at the sight. Like his heart had already decided,

_Mine_.

* * *

Chinatsu nodded her head, smiling at the man Rukia had introduced to her. Already, she had discarded him to the back of her mind. The dullness that hugged her almost as tight as her dress made her want to yawn. Only a moment ago she had witnessed a woman with purple hair, wearing a deliciously revealing and flowing gown kiss Urahara. On a usual night, she would burn with jealousy. But he wasn't even her Urahara. Just some old guy who looked like the older brother of the one she was inevitably curious about. Maybe it ran in the family, that when she saw them, she'd feel an overwhelming surge of love run through her.

What science was behind that mechanism of a human? She could only wonder. As she lifted her free arm to rub her itchy eye, Rukia grabbed it, warning her with her eyes to not touch her work. Ahh, the beauty of make-up.

As they gave the man a quick nod and smile, Rukia pulled her further into the crowd, she noted, and farther away from Urahara.

"Who is it this time?" she half asked half groaned.

"Someone dear to my heart."

"Who?"

Chinatsu immediately understood as the two stood there, Rukia staring dumbfounded at the suited figure, Chinatsu wondering what he did to have such a drastic transformation from his usual random self.

"Ichigo?" she just had to ask, earning her two sets of rolling eyes.

"Hey there Chinatsu,"

Immediately after his greeting, his eyes looked longingly at Rukia, as if he hadn't seen her in years. Chinatsu looked to Rukia for some rationality, but it was hopeless. She let go of Rukia's hand and backed away,

"I'm just gonna… find something to do."

She was ignored. Not surprisingly. Not after what she'd found out about the two. The awkwardness at seeing Ichigo was beyond her capacity. But she figured, if they were so much in love, she wouldn't stop them. Otherwise she'd become the type of parent she'd never wanted… or never had.

She stood only metres away, feeling hopeless as she watched Ichigo lean down to slowly cup Rukia's face in his hands and kiss her gently. She stood watching as they stared into each other's eyes. Even whilst they walked hand in hand outside to view the moonlight. Or so she'd assumed.

As she spun around, she paced slowly to the back wall, where she leaned and sat, watching the people do western dances all around the room. Looking longingly at the couples, she felt like she was sinking deeper and deeper into the wall. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself doing one of those dances. Her partner already predetermined. Leading her through the dance, he spun her around, his one hand in hers and his other on her hip.

The blonde hair shimmering in the glow from the reiatsu charged chandeliers hanging from the roof. The music flowing through her ears as she stared into those hazel eyes. Sighing, she reached down to straighten up her dress. Only, as she straightened her posture to do so, she heard the familiar, disturbing click. The loud click that had heads turning to see where the thing pointed. The loud click that made everything dark except for a light.

Her eyes looked at the enormous clock hanging in the middle of the expanse of wall before her. It was midnight. Exactly midnight. Mentally cursing to herself, she tried to shy away from the spotlight, walking slightly away. The host's voice reverberated around the room, sounding like a game show host rather than a soul society underworld party host.

"Who will be chosen for the last dance? Of course, the two people who have astounded me the most tonight!"

The spotlights roamed the vast room, looking for the people he had chosen. One of them had made a click, meaning it had found its target. People around the person clapped and laughed, moving further away so everyone could see. Though from where she hid, she couldn't see a thing through the crowd.

"Ahh. You never fail to intrigue me." The voice laughed a jolly laugh before continuing, "And now, where is that missy I saw before…"

The spotlights roamed the room, searching for the girl. She looked around the room curiously for when it would stop. But before she could prepare herself to start cheering and clapping for the female, she had to cover her eyes from the blinding light.

"There you are!" the voice laughed again, "trying to hide now are you? Now _that's_ why this one is the one that came out on top."

* * *

Urahara watched wide eyed as the girl under the spotlight cringed. This whole night he had managed. This was her way of popping out of nowhere and catching him off guard. He joined the crowd in their little vain laugh and cheer before he was forced to wait for her to stand up. Forced to allow her to walk closer into the middle, the spotlight following her every move. And forced to eventually walk up to her.

Her eyes followed his spotlight too, until the crowd around them had dispersed to allow them the large dance floor to themselves, and when they met his, they widened. She hadn't known it was him? He raised a brow as he walked closer and closer to her. But as his eyes stayed locked with hers, the confidence in him grew. Although she looked timid, she also reaped the benefits of this connection. He ignored the sighs in awe at her beauty. He ignored the applause as he inched closer and closer.

He even ignored the gasps of shock as the crowd witnessed the secret he had kept from everyone for millennia literally crumble away.


	13. Requisition

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N:

Ahh. My beautiful Urahara has been revealed after all this time. It was good to get that out. And what's this? I re-introduced an unsolved problem? :O Oooh. This is... unorganised...! or is it? This chapter felt like walking through mud for me. I forced myself to try and map the storyline out while simultaneously SLOWLY introducing the two main characters together. I despise those stories where the characters meet and in two seconds BAM whaddayaknow, we're in a sex scene. Ugh. Those types of love scenes are only romantic when the characters have gotten to KNOW each other and the AUDIENCE has gotten to know the characters. So here. This is my personal taste of trying to keep it slow.

Love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Urahara's body seemed to crumble away in little speckles of glittery dust. They flew up in the air like a tidal wave as he approached her, the symbols she had seen from the last time floating up in the air, twisting and swerving around the glittery like thing. Gasps flew everyone, with murmured whispers being flung across the room like wild fire.

Who was this? Was this truly Urahara? What happened? All the unanswered questions hung in the air like an unwanted presence. Chinatsu blocked out the sounds, staring only at him. This new Urahara.

Even if the lights hadn't been turned off, save for the spotlights, he would've been the most dazzling thing in the room. Gradually, he flowed up to her. His eyes had a magnetic pull to them, willing her to be calm, willing her to be absolute about the dance. But all she could conjure up in her mind were the thoughts:

_My Urahara_. _He's __**my**__ Urahara_.

And surely enough, as he offered his hand, she took it, immediately feeling his tender touch on her waist. The crowd around them fell silent as the two spotlights merged into one. Chinatsu fumbled, not knowing what to do next. How did these dances work? She'd never read up on any of these western style dances. What was the female's role? Shaking her head slightly, she leaned in a tad, where only Urahara could hear,

"I… don't know… how…" she muttered. He smiled at her, and gave her a nod before leading her every which way. As she nervously moved around with him, she realised his leading was so godly, not trying was something of a given. The more they encircled the dance floor, the more comfortable she got, and the more comfortable she got, the more she relaxed. It was the perfect scene, she realised, and she flowed around and around, even spinning under his hands when the music peaked before being swung gently back into his arms.

His eyes glowed with the same excitement she felt. What dance this was, when it ended, didn't matter. Just the two of them, moving there, was all that felt _right_. She looked at the reflection of them on the shiny walls encasing the room and smiled. They looked like the perfect match. Like a perfect set. No couple shirts or corny things like that needed.

As she spun one last time leading up to the end of the song, her smile faltered. A flash of white felt like it blinded her, and when she blinked her eyes open again, she saw an image of the same blonde boy, though younger, standing in front of her. His attire had changed though, to a more traditional, flowing kimono. And his eyes looked at her lovingly. Behind him was a traditional Japanese style mansion, where the two stood outside, amongst the abundance of flora and fauna around them. Blinking again, trying to comprehend what had happened, she was standing back in the same dance hall.

The same people cheered around them, whistling and speaking words of praise as the lights returned to the original dimmed dance hall. And standing in front of her, the same man.

What was that? What had she just seen? A feeling of dejavu washed over her. The expression on Urahara's face mirrored hers exactly. His mouth opened, then closed. Having nothing to say seemed to be contagious in her life.

It was probably nothing. She tried to convince herself. Just something that happened to people who were on the brink of falling… in love. She told herself. Shaking her head, she bowed at him, before walking toward the door. Her heart pounded with jealousy as she heard all the women in the crowd run up to him with new-found admiration for him now that he looked like a young bachelor.

A strange frustration had settled in her gut. Mixed with a sense of guilt as well. How was she any different from any of them? She fell for the young Urahara as well and only realised this feeling when his old form crumbled away…

The exit. She had to find an exit. The crowd made a pathway for her to walk out before they broke off into their little groups of final chats before the night's party ended. Chinatsu walked out in a daze, breathing in the night's fresh air. Gathering her thoughts, she began to pace the front entrance, feeling completely out of place. But as she turned around to take a step in front of her, she saw the two.

Rukia sat in Ichigo's lap, leaning up with her arms wrapped around his neck. Their kiss was so passionate, she had to turn away, blushing.

"Sorry guys," she whispered under her breath, being forced back inside. She sighed and scowled at the same time, trying to find a place to think. She _had_ to think. It was her way of calming down. Other people had yoga exercises or physical exercises to overcome their anxiety. She had her mind. Her intellect. But even in times like this, it wasn't helping at all.

As her foot passed the threshold again, she looked both ways, noticing the hallway heading down to who knew where. If it was away from the two love birds and away from the party, what more could she ask for? The hallway was like a maze. Every corner lead to somewhere new. And finally, after many random corner turnings, she found herself in a mini-forest enclosed in the enormous room. Her friendship with Rukia had led her to get used to these sorts of surprises, and she let out a sigh of relief when she spotted it.

As if screaming for her to climb it, an old tree stretched its unusually long branches in every direction. And she ran to it like her books in the library.

Chinatsu's dress was the true nuisance as she struggled up the trunk of the tree. She'd lifted it up to her knees as she set her foot in on each side and clawed her way up. And as easily as she'd done it every day, she sat on the branch, letting the soft breeze blow through her hair. She leaned herself against the trunk of the tree, singing tunes she'd faintly remembered. Since childhood, she'd believed that these were probably from her subconscious mind remembering her mother's voice.

How beautiful would it have been? Would it be accented? Strangely enough, the only memory she had of her parents were them having left her. In what way, she didn't know. But every now and then, she'd recall something. Something that made her want to feel loved again. To have them back again. How could she do that? Bring them back to life? She scoffed at her blatantly blinded hope.

"Do you like singing?" the voice came from the opposite side of the tree. And immediately, she knew it was him. How did she not feel him there?

"Yeah, I do." She sighed as she continued looking away. Out here, in this private little conversation, she felt at home. Like there wasn't a care in the world.

"Can you continue singing what you were singing just then?"

"I can't. It comes and goes when it feels like it."

"Hmm?" he murmured calm and curiously before falling silent.

The two of them sat, looking at what she now recognised as a synthetic sky. The artificial breezes blowing at her after certain intervals of time. How long they had sat there, she didn't know. The calm was eminent around them, and it ruined all her senses of time.

"What do you think… happened there?" Chinatsu had to ask, breaking the silence.

He seemed to think for a long moment before answering,

"Maybe it was an image projection of my emotions every time I see you."

Chinatsu couldn't help the warmth reaching her cheeks as he said this. She played nervously with her fingers as she asked,

"What did you see?"

"I saw you. So beautiful. Your hair was done up with beautiful shiny pins and hair accessories. And you were wearing the whitest of white kimonos with elegant skies painted on it."

"…"

"You were as beautiful as you are tonight."

Tapping her fingers more vigorously now as she let herself get more and more excited, she forced herself calm and replied,

"Ahh. You flatter me, yet you don't even know me."

They sat in silence for a moment again.

"You see that's the thing," he insisted, "I feel like I've known you my whole life."

"What a catch phrase," Chinatsu laughed, confused as to why she didn't just admit what she had felt as well, "Isn't that number one on the cheesy pick up line books?"

"… Yes I suppose you're right…" Urahara's voice trailed off. She heard him ruffle his hair, frustrated.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. Sorry." He said in a gruff voice.

Something about him made her want to just jump to his branch and comfort him, but she couldn't. She was frozen to that place, stuck in confusion. Her world was mixed between something make belief with only the tiniest bit of rationality.

Would she take that step forward? She had what people called 'photographic memory'. The hazy people smiled at her and were awed by her ability. But there were always good and bad things about it. Like not being able to forget. A child would watch a horror movie and be afraid of the dark for a fortnight, perhaps a month, before they would get bored of the incessant worry that something was out to get them. If she watched one, she'd never forget it. Would she lead herself into something that would potentially harm her forever?

Chinatsu shook her head. She didn't want to risk it. As she continued her silent little effort, a huge crash caught what seemed like both of their attention. She heard Urahara hop off the branch, landing with a small thud on the ground. He paced up to her quickly and silently offered a hand.

_Like a true gentlemen_ she smiled to herself.

"What's funny?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Nothing," she beamed at him as they floated to the centre of all the commotion.

Chinatsu gaped at what she saw. The hundreds of guests that night had pulled out their zanpakuto and wore either an enraged scowl or a face void of emotion. Standing opposite them was a pack of enormous hollow. Having broken a wall to get into the building, the pack screamed a chorus of howls across the room. The dust flew around the room in a haze.

The attendees' voices rallied across the room.

_What the hell!_

_Barely felt these babies reiatsu… _

_You get that one, I'm taking the middle one_

_This'll be exciting. It's been a long time since I've bothered with hollows_

A chorus of shikai commands were yelled.

Urahara looked back at her. She only realised they had been holding hands until he let go, the warmth disappearing from her hands. And she watched as he pulled out benihime, jumping towards the first hollow he saw and slicing it in half.

This started the flurry of attacks on the people's part. These rogue shinigami were so much fiercer than she'd ever seen up until now. Rukia was the usual subject that she saw who did the attacking, and her zanpakuto simply sliced the hollow in a neat line, just as Urahara's now did. But as she watched the others disappear and reappear at different places in flashes of shunpo light, their grins now reaching from ear to ear, she compared their styles of fighting.

Fighting was… neither an understatement nor an overstatement. But it was a far cry from fighting. Torture was a better word for it. Their swords cut off perhaps a ligament, then stabbed the chest, carefully avoiding the hollow hole. The zanpakuto left visible scars on the torsos of the beasts as they continued. Each slash causing an exhilarated laugh… and a pained cry.

A pained hollow cry to any of their normal ears… was echoed a hundred fold in Chinatsu's head. She bent down, her hands covering her ears from the pain, trying to find solace in whatever silence she could procure.

So many… screams… pain… it overwhelmed her, and no sooner had she bent down, had they finished. The hollows undoubtedly rising in glittery blue substances to soul society. But the cries continued playing over and over again in her head. Her own version of hell firing through her, rippling through her body.

The throbbing rhythm of the high pitched sound whistled through her head, making her physical world scream seem so much farther away from wherever she currently was in her state of mind. As if it wasn't her.

Chinatsu felt a hand pat her back as someone kneeled down next to her. A voice. Rukia. Ahh Rukia was back from her little session with Ichigo. But Rukia no longer relaxed her, only making her tense up more. Rukia's voice felt so far away as she tried to yell Chinatsu back into reality.

After what felt like being locked up in a cage surrounded by the noise, it stopped.

Just as quickly as it had started, blissful quiet. No thoughts, no screaming, just blissful silence. She looked up, knowing who it would be. His worried eyes, yet relieved face looked longingly at her. Now that she could _think _again, she felt the flabbergasted or disapproving stares at her. A human. A weakling. Of course. Rukia had already stood up, standing in Ichigo's arms as Urahara offered his hand again, lifting her to her feet.

"Thanky-"

And then she paused, reluctantly holding her hand above his as her eyes were entranced by the symbols that danced in his hazel eyes.


	14. Requisition II

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. This week has been a little hectic so I didn't get much time to finish. Though trust me, things will be faster now that I've returned! (for a while at least lol) and I'm happy to say that PROGRESS WILL BE MADE. Thanks for supporting this fic up until now. I won't ever forget to appreciate that.

love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Her hand hovered over his. Her eyes glistened on the verge of tears. The range of emotion that ran through her in that one second was overwhelming. Only seconds after the shock of seeing the symbols reappear, she realised they were a mere reflection.

Urahara looked at her curiously at her cautious form.

"No…" her whisper was barely audible. The symbols in his eyes were reflections of hers. A vibrant gold entwined with a sickly purple black that faded away into the honey brown.

Chinatsu hadn't minded the gold. In fact, she'd almost welcomed it when it circled Urahara in a tornado-like gold as his gigai crumbled away. It was the purple black that scared her. The last time she'd seen it, Rukia was screaming in pain, her nails scratching the futon under her as the curse clouded over her. That memory in itself made her shiver.

What did it mean? She wasn't injured. So how…? Urahara's cough prompted her back to reality, and she realised her hand was still millimetres above his. Chinatsu took his hand and was pulled up. The whispers around them never ceased as people filed out, all complaining about the one human girl who ruined their night. She _was_ human after all. How would one not scream when it felt like the world was screaming in her head? Her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"Don't worry about them," Urahara's velvety voice said as he squeezed her hand in comfort. Immediately, any bad thoughts she had had disappeared from her head. Strange how at ease he made her feel. The symbols on the other hand, could not be erased from the corners of her mind. "Let's go."

As he lead the way back, she felt like she was in a dream.

* * *

Chinatsu sat on her chair, her legs bent, holding up her chin. Her left arm wrapped around her legs whilst her right turned the pages. Surrounding her petite little body were mountains upon mountains of books stacked high around her. Titles ranged from, 'Words: how they're created' to 'myths and folklore'.

The aged book in front of her was covered in stories of love, hate and regret with paintings and drawings from the artist's derivations of the stories. The pictures showed floating beauties with enchanted men, farmers, children.

It was so fascinating, yet so bizarre, so beyond the limited scope of science that Chinatsu had to blink twice at every word. Sure she could have tried to find something on the internet, but it would've taken her twice as long. There was no way to draw a picture and immediately find what you were looking for. You relied on hazy descriptions from unknown people and that just wasn't good enough for her.

Nothing had caught her eye yet. There weren't records of anything that she'd seen. Symbols. What _did_ they mean?

"Why are you suddenly into folklore? I thought you were a 'only science exists' type of person…" Rukia's voice came from behind her, making her jump. Chinatsu turned her head to see Rukia's bent down beside her, her eyes scanning the page she was reading.

"How long have you been there?" Chinatsu demanded, trying to catch her breath.

"About ten minutes…"

"Do you want me to get a heart attack or something…" she jokingly muttered, turning back around, "I just felt like reading this stuff today."

"Oh really…Why's that?"

She didn't know why, but Chinatsu felt a strong urge not to tell Rukia about the visions. Quickly, she thought up an excuse,

"I always have a change of heart when it comes to books, don't I?"

"True," Rukia nodded in agreement, walking to her seat opposite Chinatsu.

Repositioning herself to get the most comfort possible, Chinatsu continued reading. Flipping the pages as quickly as Rukia's eyes drooped from boredom.

"Where's Ichigo?" she began, "It's getting sort of late. Shouldn't he be here by now?"

"He'll be here…" Rukia's fist squashed the side of her face as she spoke, "or he might be off fighting somewhere. You never know with him."

"Why aren't you with him then?"

"… I'm too weak."

"…"

"Compared to him anyway."

"And to me?" Chinatsu laughed.

"Well that doesn't count, since you're a human. A strange one at that. I bet you barely saw that girl you bumped into today…"

"I already told you, I can't see some people clearly. It's just something I was born with."

"Well seeing as you can see Urahara," this earned her a roll of the eyes, "and Jinta… Ururu, Tessai, Ichigo and I… I'm guessing it's humans you can't see."

"True."

"Whatever you're looking for, you can probably search for it online."

Chinatsu looked at Rukia in surprise,

"How'd you know I was searching for something?"

"Chinatsu. I've known you for years. There is no way I wouldn't notice your fidgety habits and how you're feeling. If you don't want to tell me what it is, then it's fine. I'm just trying to help."

"…"

"And anyone who reads more than twenty books in one afternoon is _clearly_ looking for something. Even if they are a freak like you." She laughed as her phone beeped.

The way her cheeks went rosy as she read the email immediately told Chinatsu who it was. Sighing, she said,

"See you,"

Rukia jumped up quickly, gave Chinatsu her winning smile and left.

As Rukia's figure left, Chinatsu grabbed her bag, leaving the library earlier than she'd have usually preferred. The walk home was a lonely one, and her eyes roamed from left to right, aware of the hollow that could possibly attack her again. What ever happened to Rosa? If she'd been so dedicated to this "Oujo-sama" of hers, why hadn't she returned? Perhaps she'd realised that Chinatsu wasn't her master.

Though she had to admit, she _did_ feel kind of special when she found out she looked similar to this master of Rosa's. Giggling to herself, she smiled as she closed in on the grand apartment. Outside, there was a new-looking security guard watching for the residents' safety. As she neared the building, his eyes watched her, and just as Chinatsu had naively thought he'd been briefed about the residents, his arm stretched to stop her entrance.

"Excuse me little lady," his eyes bulged suspiciously at her, "what business do you have here?"

Chinatsu laughed internally. Little did this man know that she had hand picked him herself…

"I live here," she said innocently. Chinatsu rolled her eyes as the guard dragged her by the arm into the building. Walking up to the receptionist, he leaned his free arm on the desk,

"Does this chick live here?"

The receptionist, having to deal with this every time there was someone new, quickly corrected him bowing and apologising profusely.

"Ahh yes. Miss Shimizu Chinatsu."

"This is so annoying…" she mused, "Miki could you please ensure that the guards are informed of the residents in this building. I would very much dislike it if I were mistaken yet again."

Chinatsu smiled sweetly as Miki bowed in apology again and again whilst watching her get on the elevator. Opening a little screen on her mobile, she tapped a few codes into her mobile and watched from the security cameras what was happening,

"Why is she so rude? She didn't even add an honorific to your name Miki-san," The security guy pointed to the elevator with his thumb.

"Don't say that! She might hear you!" Miki said hastily.

"Hmm? What is she? A God or something?" he laughed

"No… she's the Oujo-sama of this building."

Shutting her phone, Chinatsu smiled as the elevator doors opened. Inside the enormous room was couches and luxuries normal people could only _dream_ of. Large leather sofas positioned strategically in front of the massive flat screen tv. Since her parents had left though, she was stuck here, with nothing to do. No family to return to. No one to greet her when she got back. It was a luxury for some, but a very lonely place for her.

Plonking herself down onto one of the leather couches, she pulled her laptop onto her lap. Whilst waiting for it to turn on, she thought of what she was really searching for. Was it what she saw every day? Ever since childhood she had simply accepted this vision, but since she'd met Rukia, she'd realised that she was different. The symbols were what she wanted to know about. But that would've been impossible to find considering she couldn't write the things she saw down and have a matching one online. Or perhaps even that vision she saw: of Urahara, strong, astounding in his breathtaking kimono.

The computer blinked already from having been left idle too long. She used her index finger to navigate around and typed in her search engine:

**Could only see hollows**

Why she wrote it in past tense… was unknown to her. Perhaps from the vision she saw of a more traditional Urahara…

In less than a second more than ten million responses came up. Chinatsu sighed. Of course nobody in the human world other than the shinigami and the people with large amounts of spiritual power could see the hollow. There was no way these were real accounts of real people.

"This is pointless," she told herself. But her head told her to keep looking. To type in different key words. Her fingers started moving, typing

**Ancient Japanese symbols**

But pictures of pointless calligraphy and religious things came up. Frustrated, she slammed shut the laptop and placed it back on the table. She could smash it for all she cared. There was enough money in the bank account her parents had left her to support the whole of Japan for a decade.

Frustratingly, she grabbed the nearest notepad and pen she could find and put the pen's point to the page. Maybe if she could just remember what the symbols looked like… she could ask someone about it. Maybe Tessai? Remembering back, he was the one who had brought up the idea of killing her.

Her hand stayed still, as if locked in place. Why didn't it move? Why, although it haunted her, could she not conjure up the image of the detail in those symbols? The way the stroke moved in a haphazard manner. The purple one at least.

"Ugh," Chinatsu threw the pen and paper on top of the laptop and just lay on the couch. The light seeped through the curtains, hitting her eyes as she tried to see the magnificent city view outside. Her parents and herself had originally lived in a mansion bordering the city, but when they left, she found out about all their residences scattered across the city. This being one of the many of them.

She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what the symbols looked like, but all she saw was a swirling mass of purple and gold. Intertwined like a rope. Strange how her photographic memory didn't capture such essential details. Rolling over, she allowed herself to fall into a dreamlike state, her mind in the air as she gradually fell deeper and deeper.

_The rain pelted the ceiling, making her shiver as she stepped out. She couldn't be like this. It made her weak. Why did it make her weak? This was stupid. She already knew how to do this. To force it into obedience. Too easy. As she stepped out, in no less than thirty seconds, she was soaked down to the bone. Her eyes shone in the light as she effortlessly trudged through the garden, in her hand she gripped a sword he'd allowed her to borrow. _

_The elders didn't know it, but they knew. They __**knew**__ their capabilities even through the lies they tried to feed them. They said it was impossible but it wasn't. Because he and her were special. No doubt about it. They were two halves of one and separation was unacceptable. _

_The beast's roar echoed, scaring the birds from their safety havens of dry warmth. Their wings beating heavily as they tried to escape. _

_She walked right into the beast's vision, allowing it to see her, to feel the force that emanated off her. Using the same amount of energy she would to raise a finger, she let out a huge force, bringing the beast to its knees. They'd tried hopelessly every time to attack her… but the beasts were always the innocent ones. The ones she'd respected the most for their loyalty. _

_The one she had apprehended now sat with its head down and its knees glued to the ground from the unimaginable weight. It whimpered in her presence. _

_A strange language came out of her mouth, but she knew that she was saying __**Be saved**__._

_And just like that, she lifted her sword and spoke the words he'd given to her. Spoken the words that even the magnificence inside had accepted from her mouth. Her voice came out in a luscious, beautiful manner as she chanted,_

"_Nake, Benihime." _


	15. Allure

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long! I've been SERIOUSLY busy with other unrelated things so I tried to keep the tone a bit upbeat-ish this time. Please Enjoy :)

Love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Chinatsu sat opposite Rukia. The walls covered with glow in the dark stars, illuminated onto both their faces. Chinatsu, somehow used to kneeling in this position felt strangely comfortable in the space.

"Nice room," she commented, bringing a smile to Rukia's lips.

"Ichigo offered to let me sleep on his bed with him…But I like this. It's like my own personal space."

Chinatsu felt her eye bags go deeper. It was a touchy subject for her. Because of what she knew, every time Rukia mentioned anything related to 'bed', 'sleep', 'Ichigo', she couldn't help her facial muscles from twitching. Though she tried hard to ignore it.

"I like it," she smiled genuinely. It was so homely. Everything about it screamed 'Someone lives here'. No such thing could be done with the apartment.

"So what happened? I don't think you came here to compliment my spacious room now did you?"

"You never know," Chinatsu raised an eyebrow, "maybe I did."

Rukia folded her arms. Sighing, Chinatsu leaned her head on the wall behind her back whilst changing positions so her legs were bent in front of her.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm getting hazy dreams that I can barely remember. I walk through school every day and the only solid people I see are you and Ichigo…I've been attacked by numerous hollow these past few weeks for reasons I cannot fathom, and I've been seeing symbols everywhere…" her voice had trailed off into a whisper.

Rukia paused for a moment, trying to take all this in. She sure understood how much of a pinch Chinatsu was in considering this was probably the longest speech she'd ever heard from her. She thought for a moment before saying,

"Hazy dreams you can't remember… I'd say everyone goes through that. It's probably just weird for you because you remember everything you see. Like a normal person would forget every hairstyle I've had, except the one I currently have… But you…"

She gave Chinatsu a look.

"You've always walked through school seeing only me… Ichigo…and perhaps if you went to the right places you'd probably see others too. Hollows are a worry, and yet common around Karakura town since it's such a high reiatsu area."

"And the symbols?" Chinatsu questioned hopefully for reassurance.

"I… don't know." Rukia shivered from the experience of the curse removal. Watching her, Chinatsu couldn't help but see the scene of it flash before her eyes. The crazy purple colour seemed to be slashed everywhere as Rukia plummeted closer and closer to her death.

Her face paled from the memory.

"In soul society…" she began in a whisper, "do they have some sort of registry where it has your name and when you were born or something?"

"No… that would be too much data to handle. Why?"

"I was… just wondering. You know… I've always been curious about where I was born. Which hospital. What my parents looked like. Maybe even what my adoptive parents looked like. Why, even though I'm supposed to be in an orphanage, I'm not."

"…Chinatsu…" Rukia said sympathetically.

"It's so _frustrating_ not knowing!" she ran her hand through her messy tangle of curls, "I always know. ALWAYS. What's wrong with me?"

She stared, wide eyed at her friend. Chinatsu wanted answers. Answers to every question in her life. Answers to everything she'd ever wondered about. But one thing she _had_ to find the answer to was… what was she?

Why had she forgotten? Surely it wasn't like those dramas where people got into an accident and forgot everything. Of course not. She still remembered her parents…. Sort of.

Rukia tapped her finger against her knee quietly whilst sneaking a look at her watch. This didn't go unnoticed by Chinatsu.

"Are you gonna meet him?"

"…" looking uncomfortable, Rukia replied, "yes."

"Then go."

"No. I'll stay. Keep going." She said.

"No. If you're not going to listen wholeheartedly then just go."

"… are you sure?"

Chinatsu nodded, sitting back.

"Can I stay here?"

"Sure."

And in an instant, the door to Rukia's "room" was slammed open and shut. But as Chinatsu slumped down from her stiff-backed position, the light from the glow in the dark stickers slowly faded out. Stiffening up again, her eyes looked from left to right, seeing complete darkness.

She had a strong urge to get out. To find safety. To find _light_. But as her hands felt around, they hit nothing solid. No matter which way she stretched, she felt no walls, nothing. What happened? Her eyes widened. Her breathing slowly sped up.

Trapped. She was trapped in there. How could she get out? No. How would she die? It was hopeless. A rush of emotion filled her. What was happening?

Her wrists suddenly felt heavy, as if weighted to the floor. Cold. Too cold. The temperature felt like that time Rosa came. It dropped so much that she shivered uncontrollably. Knowing it was hopeless, she opened her mouth to scream, but expectantly, nothing came out.

She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. Why?

Her breath faltered. _Oh no_ she thought. Her air… felt like it was being cut off. She couldn't breathe… she was suffocating…Air… she needed air. As her eyes closed, she heard a slam. Was it the door? How did that open? Chinatsu felt her body being lifted out, and carried somewhere before being placed onto something soft.

A muffled voice … then warm water… Why was she so tired? Why? So many questions that were always left unanswered. And as she gradually drifted off to sleep, she felt a warm feeling on her forehead. But it wasn't water…it was something else… much softer… much gentler then anything she'd ever felt before. It was so beautiful, she couldn't help the tear that escaped her and the warm hand that gently caressed all her fears away.

She opened her eyes from the dreariness. So tired. So warm. _Too_ warm. And something heavy against her stomach. Chinatsu turned her head slowly, trying to glimpse the thing. And there he was. In all his glory, lying beside her, asleep. He was still _her_ Urahara, lying there with his ruffled blonde hair. A new addition seemed to be the earring that glowed in the morning light.

What had happened? What was he doing at Ichigo's house? As she looked around her, the familiarity of the place clicked. What was _she_ doing in _his_ house?

Bewildered, she tried sitting up, but to no avail with his arm holding her down. Looking at him, as if he would give her answers in his sleep, she watched his lips curl up into a smile.

"Good morning," he murmured softly, his eyes still closed, "How did you sleep?"

"…I want to sit up…" she mumbled hesitantly, monstrously aware of his presence. He smiled at her and quickly rolled over and stood up in a quick flash.

"What do you want for breakfast? Eggs? Rice?"

"…"

"Noodles?"

"Wait a second! What am I doing here?" Chinatsu raised an eyebrow incredulously, "why'd you bring me here?"

Urahara went quiet for a moment.

"I … went to Kurosaki clinic because I … felt you were there… and I felt you were in trouble," he ruffled his hand through his hair whilst leaning back against the wall. "You might think it's crazy, but it's true…

"Then I followed the feeling, and it took me to Kurosaki Clinic… and I found you in the dark closet, shivering, almost passed out," his eyes turned blank as he spoke, reliving the memory, "I just…I … I felt so angry then. That Rukia had left you like that. You don't like tight dark spaces do you?"

"… Yeah…" Chinatsu said, staring at him in an estranged fashion. "I only realised recently that I might be claustrophobic or something…It started when Rosa visite..d…"

Her words faded out as she realised she hadn't talked about Rosa to Urahara before. Her mind debated whether or not to tell him.

"Oh? If you knew that, why'd you go in?"

"There were glow in the dark stickers before, I don't know what happened…"

"… The reiatsu lights? No wonder!"

"Huh?"

"Those 'glow in the dark stickers' are lit by reiatsu. So of course when Rukia left, they'd turn themselves off."

"…"

"Rukia should've known that…" he grit his teeth, "before leaving you there like that."

"Rukia has nothing to do with this."

"If she had nothing to do with it, then why were you there in the closet? In the _dark_, _cramped_ closet? I saw your _eyes_ **roll back**! Do you know how _scary_ that is? Watching your… your-"

"Your _what_?"

Urahara looked downwards at nothing in particular. Clearly embarrassed, she could've sworn she heard wrong when he said,

"… your lover…in pain."

Chinatsu understood immediately, but couldn't help the deep tomato coloured blush that reached her cheeks. _Blast his stupid _words she wanted to complain, but they had been so genuine and so sweet, she was obliged to lift his spirits, so she simply shrugged it off and sat herself up.

Feeling a dreadful case of bed head, she flushed with embarrassment.

"It's nice. Don't worry."

"You can read minds?" she blurted out, "I thought that was just a-"

"No…" he rolled his eyes at her, "There's no such thing as vampires Chinatsu. And no such mind reader as this 'Edward'."

She eyed him suspiciously.

"That's what the main characters are always told and they believe it… But then they're the ones that end up getting eaten…"

"Oh come on," she earned herself another roll of the eyes whilst Urahara grabbed her hand and lifted her gently up, catching her when she tripped, in his arms. "So you didn't answer my question. What would you like?"

_You_. Her heart yearned for him as he looked at her expectantly. He'd called her his lover… _That_ was more than enough for a start. But what was this 'lover' business? Her heart longed for him yet her mind warned herself from him. He didn't know her. He'd only felt the same feeling she felt when they'd first laid eyes each other. A deep sense of… what? Love or dejavu?

"… I'll think while we walk…" she said finally.

"It's only about a twenty second walk…?" he raised an eyebrow.

"That's more than enough."

As they got to the dining table, she immediately noticed the change. What had once been a traditionally set up low table that was sitting in the middle of the room, was now an intricately crafted piece of oak that was a dining table. Almost exactly like the one they used to have at her original house that she'd lived in with her parents. The plates were already set out, each with their own napkin and tableware whilst a bouquet of roses was strategically placed in the centre of the table.

"I feel so… special."

Urahara laughed heartily.

"Well, until I figure out why I feel this way… you're always going to feel like this. Got that?" he winked at her whilst placing an arm around her shoulder.

Chinatsu's body shivered with involuntary excitement. He looked down at her, equally excited.. and as their eyes met, both widened at the images before them.

_A flash of light felt like it enveloped her. Like she was in a dream, yet not. She could feel her feet, but something was different. And yet she looked around, and she felt a real sense of being lost. _

_His arm wrapped tightly around her as his other hand stretched out towards the abyss in front of her. Her eyes were alight, looking at the beauty of it. On the edge lay a table that was beautifully set out. She turned to look at him._

"_It's beautiful," her cheeks lifted in a grateful smile at him._

"_Yet less beautiful then you," he lifted her chin with his index finger and planted a feint kiss on her lips. She opened her eyes to see his glowing hazel eyes. His beautifully carved features that mirrored hers. _

_She did a mini-jump to hug his tall figure. _

"_I love you… onii-sama,"_

Her eyes snapped open from the blinding flash that had put her in that dream-like state. Looking back at her was the same man… his eyes now as shocked as hers. Yet less surprised then when it had first happened. Were these memories? Or were they made up from the chemicals that were given off by the two genders as they began to mate? Her mind thought scientifically in moments of doubt.

Urahara still started at her with a degree of agony, of confusion and of ignorance. His eyes still looked at her in that loving way which frightened her even more.

Both their thoughts were clearly interrupted when a presence was felt in the room. Chinatsu sensed something familiar. And as she turned around, she watched Rosa kneel in front of Urahara, a hand to her chest as she bowed on her knee with her head bowed also,

"Master, reporting back."

* * *

A/N: I'll try to update faster seeing as my little fallout wasn't so awesome...


	16. Trade off

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N: Sorry to everyone who's been anticipating the next chapter for a while... it's closing in on exam week so my stress levels are 150% right now. So if you haven't read my profile yet then I'm telling you now that updates will be mega snail paced.

It's in my interest to return back to normal update speed within a couple of weeks so please bare with me.

love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Her mouth hung open as a myriad of shock, jealousy and offence filled her heart. Shock, not because Rosa was there, or because she was bowing towards Urahara, but at her appearance. What had happened to her?

Running from her forehead down to her chin was a massive scar which followed the same pattern of cutting through her beautiful red hair that was now a measly bob cut. Her eyes were permanently shaped into the fierce ones she had had when she had called Chinatsu 'traitor' and her lips were curled into a scowl. Chinatsu was jealous also because of Rosa's change of heart, and what now seemed like, master.

Urahara seemed to have _everything_. And lastly, she felt offence for Rosa's petty of a mistake, taking Chinatsu for a man. She looked _nothing_ like a man. Sheesh. Her cheeks puffed up with annoyance.

"Master, I've returned," Chinatsu watched as Rosa bowed and waited for her instructions. What had she gone to do? _Where_ had she gone?

"…Rosa…?" Chinatsu asked, attempting to ignore Urahara's worried glances at her. "What are you doing here?"

Rosa stayed silent. She looked up at Chinatsu. At first, Chinatsu half expected her to glare at her, but as their eyes met, they were filled with a loving, yet guilty nature.

"I'm sorry oujo-sama," her voice was barely audible, "I betrayed you like that… I'm terribly sorry! Please give me the punishment I deserve. Kill me."

"Huh?"

"The punishment for all who disobey ojou-sama is death," Rosa's stare returned to the ground.

Chinatsu couldn't believe what she was hearing. So Urahara wasn't the one Rosa was originally looking for? Who was she then? _What_ was she? What kind of person killed anyone who displeased her in that manner… Feeling sick to her stomach, Chinatsu managed out,

"No Rosa…" she walked up to the kneeling girl and caressed her dishevelled hair. "You won't get punishment."

"O..-Ojou-sama?" Rosa looked at her with teary eyes, "What has happened to you? Why are you like this?"

"I'm not your ojou-sama…"

Rosa's eyes went blank again before she looked up at Urahara who was now standing behind Chinatsu.

"Master, what would you like me to do?"

"… Just leave. I'll call upon you when I need you."

"Yes sir," she nodded and disappeared in a flash faster than even Ichigo.

Chinatsu's eyes blurred with tears of unknown empathy. There were no more questions needed to be asked. Somehow, in her heart of hearts, she knew, that girl had been through a harsh betrayal. By who, she didn't know. But she knew one thing. And that was that she _wasn't_ this girl. Whoever it was, she definitely _did not _want to be. Not even pretend to be. Urahara placed a hand on her shoulder for support,

"She's fine."

"How do you know for sure?"

"… I can tell."

"Really?" Chinatsu raised an eyebrow sarcastically, rolling her weight over to one side as she looked at him questioningly.

"Yes."

"Do you even know who Rosa is?"

"I have… feint recognition of her."

"So basically you could've just seen her on the street or something…?"

"Perhaps. But it's highly unlikely," he murmured, his arm still wrapped around her shoulder as he pulled her in tightly, "I just had this feeling… that I _knew_ her."

"Knew her?" an uncomfortable feeling of dread settled in her stomach, "how?"

"I don't know… It's just a feeling,"

Pulling herself away from him, she walked to the door.

"…I'm going home now. Thanks…"

"From saving you from a claustrophobic death? No problem!" he slurred his words whilst plastering an enormous grin on his face.

"…" Chinatsu flushed with embarrassment.

"What is Urahara going to get as a reward for this deed?" he laughed, pointing at his perked lips.

"Ha-ha," she said, but looked around as she did before running back up to him and bear hugging Urahara, "That's all you're gonna get, I'm afraid."

He chuckled in surprise,

"This is more than I was expecting."

* * *

Rukia gripped her own shoulders, stretching from the discomfort. She'd watched the minutes on the bottom of her computer screen tick minute by minute whilst she finished writing up her human world school report. The things these people learned… these sciences… were so difficult to comprehend. The human's strange theories and doctrine all compiled into stacks of books made her head spin.

As she leaned back, she felt the familiar reiatsu nearing her. Putting the laptop down, she waited longingly for the door to open. To just see his face. But as the minute seemed to roll on, she raised an eyebrow.

He was standing directly behind the door, and he _knew _she was in here. What was he waiting for? She forcefully slammed the door open, ready to pounce on him when she froze where she knelt. There, red eyes looked down on her before grabbing her arm and dragging her forcefully away. Her leg hit the door as the speed picked up. What was this girl? Rukia hadn't even the time to change into her spiritual form. Trying to free herself from this strange girl's grasp, she kicked and squirmed.

"Let me _go_!" she yelled, but there was no reply.

The only evidence that would eventually be found would be the strand of red hair that was left on the ground.

Chinatsu walked nonchalantly to her mailbox. The bills didn't get delivered to her place anymore and yet they were still getting payed. By who, she didn't know, nor did she bother wondering. Many years back when she _did_ bother, she was shrugged off by the authorities because of her 'child' status. It would still be no different now… or would it?

Inside the little slot was a piece of paper that read 'package for ojou-sama –refer to desk'. Chinatsu raised an eyebrow at this. A package? Walking up to the desk in anticipation, she handed the lady the slip.

"This would be…?"

Miki's eyes lit up as she quickly looked under her desk and spotted the wrapped item.

"Here you are ojou-sama," she bowed, holding the package in front of her.

"Thankyou Miki, you may continue your work,"

"Yes ojou-sama," she stood back up and nodded, waiting for Chinatsu to board the elevator to the top floor.

As she stood on the elevator, she meticulously unwrapped the package. Inside was a box encasing a CD that shone vibrantly under the elevator lights.

"Hmm…?"

The elevator made a ding sound before clicking and silently sliding open. Chinatsu immediately grabbed her laptop, turned it on, and slipped the CD suspiciously into her computer.

The video file immediately opened. Chinatsu's heart sped up as the thing gradually opened. What was it going to be? Maybe a ransom? For who and for how much?

She gasped at the image, covering her open mouth.

Rukia's face came on the screen. Her eyes deadpan and her breathing slow and barely audible. Her face was covered in a layer of fresh blood that covered the dried out blood stuck to her forehead. Had she been thrown? Had a concussion?

"Ojou-sama…" the velvety voice could be heard through the speakers before the camera was turned around to face the person. Standing behind the short purple haired girl that was talking was Rosa, tapping her feet and looking at the ground guiltily. "You've returned…"

The grin on her face was replaced immediately with a sour grimace.

"Who is this girl Ojou-sama?" she lifted Rukia up by her torn shihakushou, "is she someone important to you?"

Her eyes widened as she came closer to the screen.

"Ojouuuuuu-samaaaa," her cute yet tormenting voice teased. "Fortunately for you, Rosa here knew that we needed human technology to start communicating to you now…So do you want this girl back or not? If not, what will we do Rosa? Hmm?"

Rosa stayed silent, still tapping in the background.

"We'll kill her."

Chinatsu's hand was covering her mouth from the shock. Why was Rukia getting involved in something like this? Better yet, why was this _happening_? What would arrancar, or more specifically **Rosa** _want_ with her!

"We'll come collect you for a trade at the girl's place," the tiny girl pointed to Rukia. "If you're not there, or if anyone attacks us, we'll kill her on the spot. If you decide to kill yourself to try and escape like last time… we'll kill her too. So you can _both_ repeat the cycle."

A sly grin. A guilty face. And an end to the video.

The screen went black and all Chinatsu could do was sit, with her legs crossed onto the couch, shocked. Her hand covering her agape mouth shook violently as the comprehension of the situation hit her.

She was going there. What was the trade? Was it just her? Did that mean she couldn't bring anyone or did it mean she _could_ but no one was to be allowed to attack them? Why would she attack them? Obviously something was terribly off about this situation.

Chinatsu felt her body move on its own. It was as if her mind had been torn from her body and she was watching herself in a movie. What could she do against those arrancar? She was powerless… But Ichigo… how hard would Ichigo fall if Rukia was gone?

She thought to the time Ichigo had lost his powers… When his eyes showed sadness every time he somehow _knew_ she was there but he couldn't see her, hear her, touch her…And then there was Rukia. She cried days and nights, standing by him without his knowledge. He would walk through school, half visible in Chinatsu's sight, with an even more gloomy Rukia. Even now, Rukia had forbidden her to tell Ichigo about how torn she was when he "left".

Before she realised it, her hand turned the knob of the front door.

Her eyes became resolute and she retook control of her body, walking towards the clinic.

* * *

Ichigo's eyes were wide as he looked at what was probably a freakish similarity to Rukia's physique.

"Rukia's not in at the moment…" Ichigo said, trailing off.

"I know."

"Actually, do you know where she is?"

"No."

Chinatsu bit her tongue for blatantly lying so horribly.

"Hmm… you seem a bit…" he stopped midsentence when he saw Chinatsu's anxious glance turn into a glare. His eyes widened in fright at her surprisingly mean glare, having never seen this side of her before, "Is that my old man calling me? I'll go check."

Exhaling in frustration, a huge puff of cold air escaped her lips. Was it too much to just ask to meet in an abandoned park or something? They just _had_ to pick the house where Ichigo would be in the closest proximity.

A sliver of red light flashed into her eyes. The light source came from behind a pole a bit down the street. Not surprised by their idiotic acts, she followed it, clearly amused by this naïve way of making a trade.

Looking at the two standing there, it was as if they'd just stepped out of the clip. Rosa and companion looked exactly the same as they had in the video. Perhaps they only made it a few minutes before it was handed to Miki the receptionist.

"So?" she asked, cold air puffing out as she spoke. "Where's Rukia?"

"Here." The little girl standing in front of Rosa said, as if she were a higher rank then Rosa. Immediately after having clicked her fingers, Rukia's body appeared, unconscious and peaceful. Most importantly, untouched, no scratches. Had they cleaned her up? Or was it just an illusion of some sort?

"I'm surprised you came so empty handed," the little girl said, look her up and down, "but then again I guess you've always been like that."

The way she said it made Chinatsu raise an eyebrow in curiosity. It was as if the girl had known her for years the way she looked at Chinatsu and the way she addressed her.

"Let me take Rukia upstairs before I come back, okay?"

"And let you run off to that half shinigami boy? I don't think so," the little girl's fingertips gripped onto Chinatsu's arm at lightning speed.

"I just don't want my _friend_ to wake up lying in the _street_," she grit her teeth, "how cold is it right now and what is she wearing?"

The two seemed to silently deliberate for a moment before the little girl faced Chinatsu again,

"Just to the door."

"…"

Rolling her eyes, Chinatsu shouldered Rukia and limped under her unconscious weight to the door. Ichigo opened the door after the first knock. His eyes widened when he saw Rukia's body.

"Is she alright? What happened?"

"She's just asleep, don't yell so loud…"

"… Here. Give her to me." He lifted Rukia's human body effortlessly, as if she were a feather, in a princess carry. "Thanks."

Chinatsu sighed. Ichigo probably didn't know how much that meant to her right now. For a stupid mix up by these insolent fools who called themselves arrancar. How could they not even sense their own master?

"See you tomorrow," he said softly over Rukia's sleeping form.

"Yeah…" Chinatsu had to gulp back the tears as she walked off and into the arms of Rosa. She asked herself why she did it. Why hadn't she simply told Ichigo what had happened instead of make the whole thing such a drama? She couldn't. She couldn't back out from their agreement. Thinking back to her adoptive parents… they'd adopted her, telling her they would be there for her from then on. As she was lifted off the ground from the crazy speed of the arrancar, she wiped a tear from her eyes.

* * *

Rukia woke up in a sweat. The moonlight seeped onto the study desk. Where she lay was so soft, it was definitely Ichigo's bed. And the heavy weight of what felt like an arm was probably him as well. Turning to face him, she smiled. So her senses _were_ right. She wasn't imagining things when…. When… ?

Gasping at the realisation of everything that happened, she shook Ichigo frantically. He mumbled something incomprehensible before his eyes snapped open.

"Ichigo!" she gushed, "Where's Chinatsu?"


	17. Death in Every Form

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N:

It's been too long. Yes it has been. I've dragged myself out of the depths of lazytown and brought myself back into the world of fanfiction. Sorry for the delay. From now on, I will try -without fail- to keep you updated with a chapter at the very _least_ once per week.

If you _are_ returning to read this after a long time, thank you for supporting me & this story :)

love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Chinatsu's mind had drifted off. After being dragged into God knew what place, the cold from the dripping water around her made her body instinctively shiver. Before even _moving, _the little girl had ordered Rosa to blindfold and mount her. She had to convince herself in her mind, _it's for Rukia… Rukia and Ichigo…_as she rocked herself… Perhaps she'd die of hypothermia, even that'd be a better way to go then to have her soul devoured by her two hollow abductors. Or perhaps if she were lucky enough, she'd be saved, rescued by a romantic prince who'd sweep her off her feet. In a half scoff half snort, she went back to her rhythmic rocking before slowly, eventually, falling unconscious.

"She's so beautiful," Rosa swooned at the form of the blonde haired girl that floated in what looked like a glass case, "she hasn't changed at all…"

Scoffing at her naivety, the little girl replied,

"As you can see, she's not who she was anymore. Probably hypnotised by that lunatic man again,"

Turning around, Rosa examined her vengeful yet sorrow filled friend.

"Suzuran…"

"Don't call me that. _She _named me that. That witch…" Suzuran looked away to hide the escaping tear, "-that witch gave me this horrid name."

Looking back at the case to give Suzuran the time she needed to recover, Rosa watched as her Ojou-sama's hair slowly floated in the light liquid substance. Her eyelashes so long and beautiful, and her skin so pale and white. It seemed an injustice to her beauty –what she was wearing. That institutional uniform…

Rosa's eyes widened in her disappointment –glowing red as she did. Inside the case, Chinatsu's uniform slowly morphed, and burned in a reiatsu flame, changing into a beautifully flowing kimono wrapped loosely –just like it always was. Her eyes grew red again, this time her hands moving. At the same time, two hands seemed to appear in the water, moving and styling the hair and clipping the hair ornaments that appeared out of the reiatsu flame in place.

It was these trivial things that Ojou-sama used to love the most about her…

"She'd look better out here…" Rosa's voice pondered, uneasy about the setup.

"She's better dead." Suzuran finished, her feet tapping against the chrysanthemum covered tiles as she skipped away. After a few more feet away, Rosa could only hear the echo of what Suzuran had said, "Let her feel our pain for now."

* * *

One moment she was there, one moment she was gone. Urahara paced his shop. He had no control of her, she was her own being. Though the unearthly pull he had toward her was unfathomable. In only a few moments, it was as if he were back there again, when he first spotted her. The innocent looking high school girl, standing dumbfounded under the cover of the library whilst he glided through the rain. Only to be locked under her spell of a stare.

In that moment, it was like dejavu. The heavy, familiar feeling of a presence he'd long forgotten. When was it that he'd encountered it?

In a split second, the same feeling had faded into a cold, torturous feeling. The first chance he got, he turned to run away. Away…

Run…?

Had he run this way before? Turning a corner, he found himself in an intersection. In the blink of an eye, the normal surrounding buildings had images blood oozing down them. The beat of his heart thumped louder … faster … only in another blink, they were gone.

In real time, Urahara had to grasp his head in shock. Reliving that memory was horrid, confusing. Mixed emotions coursed through his veins.

As he gripped his cane tighter, a contorted faced Rukia ran in, followed by a puffed out Ichigo.

"Urahara!" her low voice reverberated through the room. "She-She's gone!"

He immediately knew who Rukia was talking about,

"What happened?"

"I-I don't know, I was at Ichigo's and these two girls… grabbed me and I was confused and it was painful… and… and…" her breath shorted out, "I heard them saying things about 'Ojou-sama' this 'Ojou-sama' that… and they knocked me out and the next thing I knew I woke up in Ichigo's house again… and she was gone."

"…" His lips parted in shock. Waiting for the information to set in, he blinked. "Do you know what they looked like?"

"... I don't…I never saw their faces –I only heard their voices." Rukia seemed disheartened by that fact.

"Has Ichigo's room been cleaned since then?"

"… It's Ichigo's room. It hasn't been cleaned since he was born…" she mumbled.

"Then come. We might find reiatsu residue left there."

* * *

The world around her felt warped, her mind swimming, her ears ringing from the silence. With not a care in the world, her hair floated in the breeze… beautifully… exquisitely….the…. breeze?

Her eyes blinked slowly –patiently open. Had they moved her? The air around her felt warm and dry and surely enough, her eyes squinted from the sunlight. The sky reached for miles and miles in all directions. Slowly sitting herself up, she jumped from the shock of realisation that somebody was next to her.

A familiar looking girl… Her hair was also light blonde –just like herself, and her eyes were also honey brown. Her face, slender and elegant as it was, glowed in the sunlight.

Upon their eye levels meeting, her lips curved upward.

Chinatsu couldn't help herself but smile. The girl's lips opened, moving –as if she were talking. If only she could lip read… then she'd understand what the girl was saying. In fact, now that she'd realised it, there was breeze, but she heard nothing.

Despite the beautifully warm spring-type day, there were no birds chirping, there was no sound at all. As the girl realised Chinatsu's inability to hear, her face turned gloomy. In that instant, the weight in Chinatsu's heart made her lean forward to comfort the beautiful girl. But also in that instant, Chinatsu's body seemed to be falling…falling so fast that in no time at all, it was like her body had slammed from stories upon stories high onto solid ground. The panging pain felt unending as she laid still –lay cold.

Cold on the exterior and cold from the realisation that it was all a dream. A horrid dream where she'd be back in reality… back in… where?

The pain slowly subsided, allowing her to push herself up on her elbows. Strange. The room looked familiar. How was it that she knew where this was?

The door to the room slid open and there he stood. His beautiful blonde hair, shrouded by the darkness that emanated around the room she lay in. Urahara –in all his glory –stood there, smiling angelically at her. His hazel eyes seemed to glow in the dark whilst his lopsided smile beamed back at her.

So in all odds, he'd saved her. He'd taken her from the clutches of the arrancar and he'd saved her. The warmth in her heart was indescribable.

_He's here_ was all she could think over and over again in her mind.

Slowly, he walked into the room. Strange how he was so quiet. Perhaps he thought she was still asleep? It was still dark in her room. He couldn't have seen her sitting up… could he?

Only a metre or so away from her now, he reached behind his back. What was it? Medicine? _Flowers_? She blushed at the thought. Only, it wasn't medicine –nor was it flowers.

The object glinted in the light from outside….

Before she'd gotten a chance to see what it was, the cold metal plunged into her –slicing her body. Chinatsu's eyes widened. How had she not noticed his zanpakuto behind him? Benihime that was now right through her flesh burned with hatred. The betrayal in her weighed more than her near unconscious body that now slumped forward against the metal. She watched as the blood slowly drained out of her, and slowly, her world turned black.

Black… blacker… finally past the darkest black she'd ever imagined, her body seemed to slam back into reality. Quickly sitting up, she panted in terror. Her pyjamas were sweat soaked from the horrible nightmare.

She felt where her heart was –where he'd stabbed her. It was fine. Everything was fine. Everything…

Looking from left to right, she realised where she was. So her nightmare had reflected on her true surroundings. She truly was back…Her heart still cautioned her, but the huge sense of relief that washed over couldn't be mistaken. He _had_ saved her. He _had_ brought her back. The non-horrific thought calmed her as she attempted to stand up. Only just as she was on her hands and knees, the door slid open, and standing in the doorway was Urahara again, his zanpakuto unconcealed this time, covered in blood.

The blood drained from Chinatsu's face, because she knew whose blood it was. As she watched him draw nearer, his smile that was once angelic contorted into a repulsively devilish face whilst he raised benihime's tip inches away from her face. Up until then, there had been no sound. Not until he spoke.

Only one word.

She prayed that it'd go back to silence, but it didn't.

She'd heard it, and all she wanted to do was just that…

He edged closer and closer, and in the softest, most vicious voice she'd ever heard, he spat out:

"Die."

* * *

The purple arose, enfolding the case with a lilac hue. Suzuran watched pleasurably as the unconscious Ojou-sama's body squirmed from the pain. They needn't do anything now –he'd do it for them. All Suzuran needed to do was inject her slow working inner poison for it to happen and now, she could watch.

Her smile grew larger and larger, until a malevolent grin stretched across her face.

"It has begun," she said to Rosa, who'd freely wedged herself against the nearest wall the moment she saw the resin dilute into the liquid.

Spinning around, Suzuran faced Rosa.

"Now's the time for your part to play in all this."

Rosa's face was reluctant, mortified even. As if she hasn't seen this coming.

"No." she said.

Suzuran's grin turned into a nightmarish glare.

"Hm? When did you get so disobedient?"

"I… I won't…"

Her legs ambled toward Rosa's form and her hand flew swiftly across her face. The black blood began forming around Rosa's lip. Her eyes watered, but her expression had turned gloomy.

"I won't let you hurt Ojou-sama," she continued, more confidently now.

Suzuran couldn't help but giggle tauntingly at this.

"Really? You'll _really_ not let me hurt O-JOUU-sama?" she teased, "then how about this?"

Her eyes glowed purple as she stared into Rosa's eyes whilst smiling slyly. Rosa looked away –only she was too late. Her eyes had already turned the faintest shade of lilac, and her expression revealed it all. She was under.

"You hate it when I do this, right Rosa?" Suzuran giggled as she twirled around Rosa, "see? See? You can _never_ defy me. Hehe! Now, Rosa, do it. Do it _now_!"

Rosa's body stood still. It was useless. Her face became expressionless as her palms lifted, landing on Suzuran's petite-looking shoulders. She brought Suzuran into a hug and the body of the menace grew gold. Lighting up the mini-cavern they'd put themselves in, the body glowed and glowed. The weightless air around Suzuran lifted her up as her features changed and rearranged themselves.

Stepping away, Rosa's will cracked slightly through the wall of her controller, and a tear escaped her glowing purple eyes.

"No," she whispered at the image in front of her.

The same innocent smile she'd never wanted to see on anyone else. The same blonde –almost white –hair, the same honey brown eyes stood in front of her.

"Perfect," Suzuran's –no, Ojou-sama's voice said.


	18. Facade

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

It had already become unfamiliar, not having her particular presence around that seemed to encapsulate him every moment he stepped within her vicinity. What about her was it that attracted him, Urahara wondered. Moments ago, he, Rukia, Ichigo and the rest had ended their persistent week long scouring of the town. Their search came to no avail. Rukia nor Ichigo had never once felt her presence that was so strong willed in Urahara's heart. Why didn't they feel it?

Searching uselessly with not a shred of evidence, it was bound to end that way. Yet he didn't contemplate giving up. Cupping his hands in his face, he thought to himself –

_Where are you?_

Not a second had passed before he heard the ear deafening scream outside the shop. The voice of whom could not be mistaken. He was at the door in a flash, benihime at the ready, only to see Rosa, speeding mid-air towards a panic stricken Chinatsu. Rosa's eyes flashed purple in the twilight as her movements swept her katana up in preparation for a slash despite her noticing Urahara.

"_Nake, Benihime_," his venomous, hate filled voice slashed Rosa almost as swiftly as benihime sliced a huge length out of her, allowing blood to drain from her face as she stood, eyes wide, fading back into the glowing crimson red of her original state. She fell to the ground, clutching the blood at her chest.

Chinatsu's head turned, her cheek dropped as she did, and she ran into Urahara's warm embrace, tears flooding her eyes. Her grip pinched deep into his skin as he sheathed Benihime and completed the embrace. Despite her crying, her warm body in the embrace, something was off. Her hair didn't seem to shine quite as much, her eyes not as bright and her presence not totally there. He shrugged the thought off; she'd been at God knew where and had found herself here.

"Are you okay?" he leaned back to examine her, gently moving her head left and right with the tip of his finger on her chin. She nodded feebly. "What happened? How'd you get back?"

Chinatsu shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it. From what he'd seen, it didn't seem too bad. His head whirled as he tried to analyse the happenings of the past week. What were the girl's intentions to steal Chinatsu away? What would she _gain_?

He knew what Chinatsu was. And that was all he needed to know to settle his mind. He must protect her.

"Let's at least go inside," he lowered his voice, leading her back toward the shop. He turned his head to see the red glittery shine of what was Rosa's body dissipate into the heavens.

What he wanted to think in that moment was _You don't deserve Soul society_ or _You're nothing more than __**rubbish**_ But all he could conjure up in his mind was the image of Rosa with devilish purple eyes, the unfamiliarity of the vengefulness of her usual humbled spirit…

Not too soon after he'd laid her down, Rukia burst into the room.

"Chinatsu!"

"Shh..she's asleep," he said, ushering Rukia out with a slight nudge.

"But..!"

"You'll have plenty of time to talk to her later."

Sighing in defeat, she trudged the whole six flights of stairs down to the underground training ground.

"Ichigo," she said in a firm voice, "she's back."

"Huh?" he seemed perplexed, "what do you mean she's _back_?"

"I saw her with my own eyes, lying there."

"You're saying she was kidnapped a week ago, disappeared for this length of time, and suddenly she's _back_?"

Rukia nodded.

Urahara's footsteps echoed as he purposely put weight into his walk to notify them he was there.

"It was Rosa all along, she planned this. I should've known, starting from her first meeting she'd called Chinatsu a 'traitor' various times –of what I'm curious," he smiled, gripping his hat.

"Oi Urahara," Ichigo chided, "aren't you even a little curious how she got back? How she _survived_? We've been looking for her a week and suddenly she reappears, with a few cuts and bruises?"

"Mm," Urahara nodded, contemplating his next move, "I presume some sort of kido was used on her, a memory lapse one."

"There is no such thing," Tessai interrupted, walking out from his hiding place behind one of the large rocks.

"Pleasure that you finally joined us Tessai-san," Urahara chuckled at Tessai's not-impressed look.

"Again Urahara-san, I do believe this has gone for too long. The sympathy you feel for her has clouded your judgement. She's one of _them_ and you know but refuse to believe it," Tessai's eyes narrowed at him.

"There is only one other explanation for this strange event. Every individual's zanpakuto has a different ability, Rosa's didn't have the spiritual force to wipe out that huge a memory, so perhaps she had an accomplice? Someone able to wipe memory?"

Tessai shook his head in frustration. Why couldn't Urahara understand the direness of the situation?

"She's _dangerous_, and should be _destroyed_," Tessai's eyes shone with passion behind his lenses.

The tense silence was interrupted by an awkward cough on Ichigo's behalf. Urahara and Tessai both turned their heads in realisation at the dumbfounded looks of Rukia and Ichigo who sat only a few metres away.

Rukia's agape mouth mutated into a mix of shock, terror, anger.

"What are you _talking_ about? Destroying Chinatsu!" Her face reddened and her eyes watered in her frustration.

"You don't know the truth, Rukia-san, and I'm afraid now is not the time nor the place for you to find out," Tessai said, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"I'm her best friend and I think I have a _right_ to know," she said, stomping her foot. At Tessai's obvious ignorance, she faced Urahara expectantly. His eyes too showed no remorse at her predicament.

"Exactly what Tessai said. This subject is too personal and not good for your spiritually relational growth right now."

Rukia scoffed.

"Don't give me that crap,"

But they'd begun walking away. Her eye twitched. Ichigo noticed her hand twitching also and grabbed it before she snapped.

"Don't." he warned, "you'll only get yourself hurt."

"I'm done with everyone underestimating me!" she spat back at him, throwing a pill into her mouth and separating from her gigai. She unsheathed Shirayuki and ran at Tessai, screaming at the top of her lungs. He sighed as he heard her speedy approach and carefully removed his glasses. At a mighty speed, he chanted incantations and drew a golden triangle in mid-air, and as Rukia jumped, he yelled,

"Shitotsu Sansen… geki," he combined the two kido like it were second nature to him. Rukia's body was flung back by the three spears of light whilst simultaneously paralysed by the electrifyingly engulfing kido.

Her head bowed from the sheer strength of the kido, her will power broke too. Ichigo ran to her, looking disbelievingly at Tessai who had slipped his glasses back on and was metres behind Urahara.

A few mumbled words from Tessai as he climbed the stairs and Rukia was free of the binding force of the Kido. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she stayed in her bound position.

"I'm weak," she shook in anger at her own incompetence.

"You're amazing," Ichigo attempted comforting her, getting him a half scoff half laugh from Rukia. She sat herself up and wiped her cheeks.

"Baka Chinatsu," she said as she did, "after I met her I became this cry baby."

"I guess… you love her more than you love me," he joked,

"How'd you know?" she looked up at him with a feigned ignorance. His shock made her giggle incessantly.

Ichigo scratched his head, unappreciative of her joke at this time.

"The only thing is," Rukia's face returned to seriousness, "What are they hiding from us? Also, why is Chinatsu back?"

"I know…" Ichigo muttered, eyebrows furrowed, "we'll have to wait til' she wakes up,"

Rukia sighed, leaning her head on her knees.

* * *

She lay with her head on her arm, grinning to herself as she twirled her hair. The smile on Suzuran's Chinatsu cloned face was remarkable, almost glowing in the pitch black room they'd encaged her in.

"Rosa… the 'favourite' is… gone!" she sang to herself, "I'm _you_ and I own everything you've ever had~"

Suzuran rolled around happily, planning out her next move. The only thing that had kept her mistress from complete love for them was _him_. He would be the first to go. The first she'd destroy both mentally and physically until he could never return.

_The first time_, she thought to herself, _I tried to get rid of him… she disappeared also. Perhaps she was too grieved by his death. Perhaps…But he came back… and so did she? Soul society has definitely gone soft on souls these days. Allowing suicidal lovers to return._

Footsteps were approaching her door and she quickly realigned herself with the futon and rolled over to hide her face before she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

They approached the edge of her futon and as she peeked through her squinted eyes, she saw his shadow… bending down. She felt his hands run through her hair and she shivered at the thought of his stare on her being. Had he found out? Had he figured out that she wasn't Chinatsu?

No.

She would've been dead otherwise. Rosa's ability was flawless and undetectable. Rosa…She sniffed subconsciously and froze. Urahara's breathing fell silent.

"… Chinatsu?"

Suzuran feigned a waking up sigh and rolled over slowly, looking him straight in the eyes. His face was sullen, unshaved. His eye bags more prominent then she'd ever seen, and his eyes had lost their glow… their shine from… another era.

He was the complete opposite of the magnificence he once was.

_Back in those times…_ she thought to herself. _Back when he was… and she was…_

Simply thinking of what he'd turned her mistress into, she twitched and regained her venomous defiance she'd reserved for him.

"Urahara," Chinatsu's soft voice escaped her lips, "I've missed you."

His face changed to surprise. His mouth opened but no words came out… Suzuran leaned upward, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Urahara's eyes widened in shock. She smiled as she pulled away only slightly before kissing him again. His shock hid the fact that the purple smoke-like substance transferred from her mouth in small doses into his.

Slowly, after a few long seconds of what felt like forever, his eyes drooped shut and he lay next to her.

_He'll wake up tomorrow thinking it was the best thing that had ever happened to him in his life_, she smiled to herself, lying down and wrapping his arm around her waist. _Just you wait U-ra-ha-ra… 'sama'…revenge starts now. _


	19. It Begins

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N- After a huge event that occurred in my real life, I was deprived of almost all of the precious things in my little bubble that I call the world. So as to say, it left me with mixed emotions that I needed to let out. So, I channeled it into this chapter. And I'll be channeling it into my other chapters to come. Which I must say, are coming MUCH faster than usual because of said event. Therefore, please tell me what you think & I'll have the courage to keep writing more and more.

Love,

Mifuyu

x

* * *

Urahara's eyes blinked open. Lying before him was the magnificently beautiful face of his beloved. What had transpired last night… he vaguely remembered past the hypnotising kisses they'd shared. His back ached from sleeping in the same position all night, and under his arm was the warm body of Chinatsu.

_Ahh,__Chinatsu_, he sighed contentedly to himself. What feelings came with simply seeing her there he could not even describe in words. Her eyes from last night honey with hints of glowing purple, staring at him before disappearing behind her soft kiss. Like Rosa in her final moments. Just like Rosa…

He sat up, his head spinning. What _had_ transpired last night? Why couldn't he remember past that kiss? His heart thumped faster from the adrenaline kicking back into his body. He remembered what Tessai said last night,

"_She__'__s __one __of __**them **__and __should __be __destroyed,__" _ Tessai's stern voice kept reverberating in his mind. Somehow, now that her overwhelming presence over him was gone, it felt almost natural to destroy her. The hesitation he once held for her being replaced with a distinct hate. Yet something stopped him. Her face, her innocence. All from this time and place. Something untouchable now that… _this_ happened.

She breathed in and was silent. A sign that she'd begun waking up.

"Good morning," he breathed, falling back into his love sick stupor. She blinked and stared at him for a moment.

"You're already up," she mumbled out, perplexed, "why are you already up?"

"Huh?" he questioned, "what's wrong with me being awake?"

"Nothing..Nothing…" her eyebrows furrowed. Chinatsu jumped up and smiled cheerily, "What should we do today? Eat somewhere? Go on a date at the theme park?"

"…"

"Or don't you like that? What would you like to do?"

Urahara was poised in his relaxed sitting position. How _unlike_ Chinatsu she was right now. But perhaps this experience had frightened her to the point where humans felt the appreciation of life, that they'd do something they wouldn't normally do.

He shook his head, offered her his hand and pulled her onto his lap.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?" she asked, leaning her head to one side.

"Did Rosa hurt you anywhere? Does it hurt?"

Chinatsu's face didn't twitch in the slightest as – Urahara swore he saw – her smile turned menacing. He ignored it to abstain from giving her any more pain of having to remember anything agonizing.

"No, I'm fine," her voice lowered, "Rosa tried to hurt me, but you saved me. I have _so_ much to thank you for…U-ra-ha-ra."

He gave her a questioning look but was taken aback when she leaned in toward him in a kiss. Her soft lips touched his, but he felt nothing. It was an empty, meaningless kissing. Yet his body urged him on, leaning into it, tugging softly at her hair.

He opened his eyes somewhat as their lips parted only to feel himself getting increasingly weary, and his eyes drooping into darkness.

* * *

Walking through the hallways of the place that had housed the vile creature that was Urahara, Suzuran stopped. The door to the outside shop was ajar, and the temptation was too much for her to pass up as she listened in on the two figures talking.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Ururu's sweet voice said as she looked at Tessai violently scrubbing surfaces and heavily smashing things down into place.

"Hm?" he said absentmindedly, " maybe I should just act on my own for this one…"

She'd sat herself up on a countertop and was swinging her legs.

"But this is Urahara," she tilted her head as per the girly fashion nowadays, as if her words weren't as heavy as she'd intended them, "he'd kill you in a heartbeat if he found out."

"Yes… but me dead is better than…" he stopped. As if he sensed something.

Suzuran flinched, moving slowly further away from the side of the door. She'd hidden her presence perfectly well, how did he know?

Alas, her fretting was for nothing as his shadow moved slowly back to work. Their conversation stopped at this, and thus was her time to exit. As her figure reached the end of the long, narrow hall, she failed to notice Tessai's thick hands silently opening the door and his suspicious eyes gazing at her.

* * *

"Come at me with all you've got!" Rukia screamed, frustrated at Ichigo's hesitance, "why do you keep holding back!"

"Because I **love** you!" he threw his zanpakuto so that it sliced into the underground training rock metres away whilst he ran and engulfed Rukia in his arms, "you just don't _get_it. I can't… I just can't hurt you."

Rukia's frustration melted away as she looked at his sweat-covered face from holding back and his weary eyes. She leaned her head against his shoulder, the crown of her head fitting perfectly under his neck. She too was covered in sweat, only she'd tried her best. She'd tried _so__damn__hard_. Why then? Why couldn't she figure it out? The way to be strong…

"What are you fighting for?" Ichigo asked, as if reading her mind.

"What do you mean?"

"… You need a goal. A place to reach. Not just a benchmark, like Renji… He's gained his bankai but because he didn't have a goal, it's as weak as his shikai. **What** are you fighting for Rukia?"

He gazed at her with solemn eyes, expecting an answer. Rukia's heart sped up. What was she supposed to say? All she'd done up until now, all she'd been trained to reach was this 'benchmark' he talked about. How could she so easily ignore what she'd been taught for hundreds of years?

"I-I… don't know," she struggled with forming her answer, "but at the same time I **do**…"

Confused, he opened his mouth to question, but she'd have no more questions. Rukia threw her arms around him and closed her eyes. Sensing her discomfort, Ichigo hushed and patted her back softly.

"Something's just been annoying me," her voice was muffled by Ichigo's shihakushou, "I don't know… it's been a whole day and my best friend hasn't talked to me… hasn't so much as _looked_ in my direction."

"Maybe it's because you haven't been anywhere but here?" Ichigo chuckled.

"No it's not that. I saw Tessai early this morning and asked me about Chinatsu… I didn't even know she'd woken! What does that say about me as a friend?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Ichigo replied, "she'd been sleeping for who knows how many hours. Nobody would've known exactly what time she'd wake up."

"But she's my **best****friend**! Urahara's _stealing_ her from me!"

Ichigo laughed at his girlfriend's jealousy. He was almost amused at the bewilderment on her face as she clearly showed it.

"So basically, you're jealous?"

Rukia scoffed at him.

"Of course I am!" she sniffled as she spoke, this peaked Ichigo's interest even more so, "my best friend…"

"So go talk to her now then, if she's awake?"

She shuffled her feet at this, stepping away further and sheathing her zanpakuto.

"I don't know… I don't feel as … _comfortable_ around her after this whole kidnapping thing happened. It's like, she's not the same person or something…"

"As it usually goes with kidnappings… the victim is traumatised?"

"But it's different… I just feel it…"

Ichigo's questioning face could not be satisfied with such ambiguous words, but Rukia couldn't fit the pieces of her puzzle together. The thing that made her heart stop when she came near the vicinity of Chinatsu's room.

"Like I said before, I don't know… but I know."

* * *

"You're awake?" Suzuran exclaimed happily in Chinatsu's voice. Urahara's eyelids had just opened again. His hand immediately gripped his forehead as the searing pain in his head set in. He groaned at the pain that wracked his brains as he sat up. As if he'd drank loads of alcohol in a gigai again or something.

"How long was I asleep for?"

"Oh, only a few hours," she smiled cheerily. Almost _too_ cheerily.

"Ugh," he gripped his head, "how are you so happy all the time? What time is it?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure."

"Can you check for me?"

She mulled over this for a moment, her eyes judging his state of mind before nodding and quickly leaving the room. What a relief it felt to have her gone. What'd gotten into him? Only days ago he'd felt like he'd give her the world. He'd give his own life for hers even. What'd changed?

Just as he stood up, Tessai's familiar framed eyes and thick moustache appeared before him.

"Urahara-san," he bowed respectfully.

Urahara huffed as he saw this, and sighed as he replied.

"Tessai, how many times must I tell you? That life's over, so please, stop with the formality."

"It's not," Tessai's eyes narrowed as he spoke, "so long as she's alive, it's not. So long as **any** of us are left, this life is most certainly **not****over**."

"Ugh," Urahara groaned again, the pain in his head refused to subside. "Can you get me something for a headache?"

Tessai looked at him, perplexed.

"You should have something in your shop."

"…Thanks."

As Urahara said that, Chinatsu came skipping in,

"Oh Tessai-san! I didn't know you were allowed back here."

Both of the men looked at her questioningly. Suzuran bit her tongue til it bled the instant she realised her mistake.

"Sorry, I just thought that Urahara was the head of the house, and I've always seen you cleaning so I just assumed…"

Nodding with a frown, Tessai silently stormed off.

Turning to face him, Suzuran shrugged and nodded pointlessly at Urahara.

"It's 6 o'clock. Sorry I took so long… your house is enormous! And it was so hard to find a clock…"

Her eyes tried to read his, the purple glints slowly showing as she searched for _something_ that had given her away. Urahara was only tired. Of the ache in his head, and most of all, the girl that stood in front of him. He was frustrated, at himself, at his confusion. The headache only was making things worse, allowing his temper to fly off the carefully guarded harness at any arbitrary moment. All he could think was what changed?

But the _tha-thump_ he heard in his head every time he walked, every time he **moved**, was not helping the thought process. The veil of thick cloudiness was beginning to cover his eyes. The weariness from _everything_ it seemed weighed him down like the world was on his shoulders.

"Are you alright?" her shrill voice said, totally unconcerned, "You should lie down, you look pale"

"No… I'm alright… I'm just…"

But her strangely strong hands pushed him down slowly yet surely. As his head touched the pillow, he heard the sliding door reopen, probably Tessai. He confirmed this when he heard Tessai's voice,

"Why is he sleeping again? He just woke up," Urahara heard what would be the glowing pills in the container Tessai must have brought in.

"He's still feeling unwell, give me those, I'll give it to him when he wakes up."

Silence.

A long, almost awkward pause before he heard the sound of shaking pills being handed over and Tessai gruffly opening and slamming the door shut.

Ichigo and Rukia stood outside, having just come back from the underground training area. They exchanged glances when they saw Tessai storming out of the room, his face calculating.

"Tessai…san?" Rukia chanced a whispered question, clearly aware of Chinatsu's room, "What's wrong?"

He looked at them, only they saw only his glasses.

"I have a hunch," he muttered, "I just need proof. But I'm afraid that if I wait to find it, or I wait for it to find me, it'll be too late and Urahara will be dead."

"…"

Again, Rukia and Ichigo exchanged glances.

"What… do you mean?" Ichigo lead on.

"Shimizu-san … is evil."

"…"

Both Ichigo and Rukia exclaimed incredulously in unison,

"Huh!"

Before they could ask, Tessai pulled them further past the hallway and into his private quarters behind the store.

"What the hell?" Ichigo allowed his raised voice to fill the room as their feet passed the threshold.

"…"

Rukia squeezed his hand, willing him to be silent.

"Kurosaki-san, you may not understand because you've only lived for a short amount of life, or that you've only been a shinigami for two years. However, Kuchiki-san, you of all people should understand this. Your two hundred and forty five years of serving Soul society is proof of this…"

"Get to the point," Ichigo muttered.

As he spoke, Tessai looked Rukia in the eyes with such a grim expression,

"Urahara is sick."

"…"

Ichigo stifled a laugh. What he really wanted to do was slap his knee and roll on the floor laughing. So the old man got sick. Big D. Was it such a huge deal that Tessai had to trip over himself in worry like this? After these past years in a shinigami world he thought he'd seen it all until today.

However, he lifted his head at Rukia's serious reply,

"How long has it been? How do you know for sure?"

"He claimed to have a headache. He himself should know, but he's blinded by this bothersome girl. He even requested _medication_. Kuchiki-san."

Rukia nodded. Brooding and confused.

"I understand your predicament Tessai-san,"

Ichigo stood; mystified by the direction the conversation was going. Rukia? Doubting her best friend? Only moments ago she'd half broken down about her best friend not giving her due attention, now she was turning against her?

"Wait, am I missing something? Why are you guys overreacting…? So the old man got sick. What's wrong with that? Just give him the meds and he'll recover…" Ichigo had never asked so many rhetorical questions that he actually wanted answers to.

Rukia's split decision between her love for Chinatsu and her reeking suspicion showed clearly on her face.

"Ichigo…medication…is only used for children in soul society when they are at their **weakest**, when nothing else can help them in their state of sickness. For an adult shinigami to get sick… it is unheard of."

"So why's the old man sick then?"

"…the only explanation for it is, poison."

Tessai nodded with a furrow between his eyebrows at his certainty.

"I believe Shimizu-san is trying to kill Urahara."


	20. Reverence

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

_The thunderstorm seemed to bring with it every bad connotation the humans had perceived of it for millennia. The murderous thunder cackled through the sky moments after shots of lightning warned of the oncoming onslaught of ear-piercing, merciless eruptions of sound. Nobody would have dared step out of the comfort of their homes to witness the vibrant red balls of spiritual light floating toward a desolate cave high in the mountains. As it approached the entrance, it warped and morphed into what looked like a human. Yet its vibrant red hair and pale features were outshined by the enormous red gash that sliced from its shoulder to its right knee._

_Rosa limped slowly in, her reiatsu not strong enough to protect her unconsciously from the earth's elements as it usually did. Her hair was soaked through with rain, as was her body and wounds with it. She breathed heavily as she struggled further and further in. Each time leaning her body more to the left, she tried to manoeuvre the body into positions that the pain wasn't as intense. As she drew further in, the lightning from the storm ceased to light up her path, but was replaced by an iridescent purple glow coming from the place she knew she'd find her Ojou-sama._

_Forcing every limb of her body into action, to reach the place she wanted to be last, she collapsed at the base of the colossal glass body that held her Ojou-sama. Her hand stroked the glass that encapsulated her._

_"Ojou…-sama," she breathed, closing her eyes as she leaned her head on the glass –the closest she'd get, "I wish to…, break this glass…, and free you but, I fear, I'm…too weak…, to break Suzuran's lock on this. It pains me to even lift this finger…,"_

_Her breath shortened as the blood flowed freely from her wound. She didn't bother tending to it for she knew the inevitable, and she knew of the door that would be opened for the one to come. They all did._

_"Please…, forgive me …, for all my misunder-…,-standings, and…,my mistrust…,I hope that the next…, in line…, will be a million times over…, more faithful than I…," Rosa gasped, blood had reached her lungs and she felt it in the back of her throat, ready to be coughed out. She was no stronger than a weakened human and she knew this was the end. Though, instead of disintegrating into little entities of spiritual matter that would eventually go to soul society, she clutched at her soul and let it be slowly sucked out of her, like a vacuum, as she disappeared. The glowing red particles that had once been her body glowed, as if in conjunction with her pain, and swirled effortlessly past the glass to form the rose tattoo on the nape of Chinatsu's neck._

_Her unconscious form glowed, as Rosa's work had been undone with the end of her life. The deadly beautiful kimono that she'd been changed into glowed and transformed back into her uniform and her intricate hair ornaments and design were undone; changed back into the dishevelled curls of Shimizu Chinatsu._


	21. Reverence II

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsMifuyu

* * *

A/N- Finally able to get some important plot in. Sheesh. Thanks for being patient.

Love,

Mifuyu

* * *

Suzuran felt heat rising from her chest as her whole body glowed in the dusk light. She'd sat herself down, watching as the light slowly faded from Urahara's eyes. The poison injected into his body spread into his reiatsu veins and slowly engulfed his body. Light that had shined from her had seemed like an innocent luminous reflection from the sun's rays, however as she lifted her hands to glimpse it, she gasped.

The light was most certainly _not_ simply a reflection of the sunlight as she watched her skin burn away. Instinct told her to scream, but she pressed her lips firmly together despite the shock. Looking around frantically, she glimpsed her reflection on something silver in the room. Bringing her fingers to her face, she watched as the fire engulfed the disguise she'd cleverly kept on for the past few days. Her Ojou-sama's face slowly melted away, as if she were a bug, moulting it's skin.

"No," she whispered when finally all she saw was the same purple hair and eyes, the same features she'd once bore on her face, "It was almost done…"

Her face scrunched up as she heard frantic footsteps running toward the room. She panicked, breathing gradually faster. There was no time before those footsteps would reach the door and the inevitable happened. In that moment of weakness and desperation, she allowed her conscious to slip away, and let loose her inner-self. Her body engulfed itself in its own light and transformed in a split second. Almost the same, but not. Another glance in the reflective surface showed menacing dark purple eyes and a tongue licking across the satisfied grin of Suzuran's true self.

Lifting her hand in the direction of the door in one swift motion, it slammed shut. Huge locks forcibly held it shut before melting into one thick block of purple reiatsu that shot out laser like beams, barricading the entire room as if protecting the world's most precious jewel. Suzuran hissed as she slowly watched Urahara's breath slow and soften as his life force faded away.

"Almost!" it hissed as it crouched guardedly over Urahara's body, awaiting the enemy.

* * *

They'd all felt it, heard it even. The gradual growth of a feeling of an unfamiliar reiatsu. The heart beat-like sound they'd heard in their eardrums that slowly grew deeper and stronger. And in a split second, they'd all comprehended the presence of what felt like an arrancar. Speeding toward the door, Rukia and Ichigo joined Tessai in a shunpo step through air. Only, they were too late. Inches from the door, it slammed shut with a deadlock seal that nobody could've foresaw. The strength of the barrier coming from the source inside weighed on the weak wooden sliding door. Some wooden chips of the door tore away from the rejecting force.

"Whoa," Rukia breathed, wide eyed, as the air from the slam blew at her hair. Tessai immediately placed his hand on the door, reading the codes that were intertwined with the seal. After what felt like forever, he turned to face them with a sudden tired and sombre expression.

"It's… nothing I can do anything about," his soft voice said.

Rukia, bewildered at this statement looked at him, stunned where she stood.

"What!" Ichigo managed to bellow before she was able to open her mouth, "I thought back in society you were like… the best of the best. What the hell!"

At this statement, Tessai slumped further down.

"It's an ancient seal that is beyond anything I could've imagined. It's to such a proportion that I believe only someone like Genryuusai would be able to combat,"

"… What!" Ichigo asked again in disbelief, "there's no way the old man's gonna come all the way to the human world just to save a measly human…"

Tessai sighed and nodded.

"Isn't there anyone else who's able to unlock it?" Rukia asked, dumbfounded.

"There's only one person…"

"Who!" the two cried in unison.

After a long pause and their shared look of impatience, Tessai looked away as he said,

"That is, none other than Urahara himself."

They wanted to fall down in shame. Having been unable to protect Urahara from the oncoming onslaught of this alien in his home and shop.

"Urahara!" Ichigo slammed the door, "For GODSAKE, FIGHT LIKE A MAN URAHARA! GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP!"

The force of rejection on the door threw Ichigo's body effortlessly a few metres away. He stood up and ran back to the door, slamming again. His eyes filled with a determination that Rukia had only ever seen when in the midst of battle. However, as she looked at it now, they were left with nothing but this option. This essentially **was** their battle.

She picked herself up and ran to the door also, doing exactly as Ichigo did. In a hopeless attempt to wake the weakened Urahara up.

Unexpectedly to the two, as their bodies were flung back again, they watched as Tessai's large body slammed into the door. They in turn heard his yelling in a strange language. Even having never heard it before, they were able to understand what he was desperately screaming.

_Save __yourself!_

* * *

_In a faraway place, amongst deserted area and dangerous mountainous region, a body floated in glowing crystal-like liquid. The beating of her heart slowed, as if knowing exactly what state its other half was in. It beat, gradually loudening, the sound echoing throughout the cave._

_The body began glowing a beautiful white gold, appearing like a barrier to the dreadful purple waves holding it adrift ominous nightmares. The crease that had formed in between her brows softened into a small smile as the enormous amount of energy shot up through the top of the glass, through the mountain's skin and into the sky. It twinkled for a moment before disappearing._

* * *

His head swirled in a mass of grey and purple clouds. It was cold and dark as people walked past him on the street, looking at him, astonished, before they'd swirl back into the confusion of mist that surrounded him. His clothes were soaked wet, and his legs felt as heavy as lead. Where was he? Why did he decide to come here? Before he could conjure an answer up in his mind, he'd forget it. Yet it didn't worry him at all. Urahara continued walking aimlessly. Where he'd end up, he didn't know, but in his little tunnel of cold, shivering darkness, he'd seen a small peep of light that told him that wherever he was supposed to be going, he was almost there. The closer he'd walk, the less cold it seemed, however he never once stopped shivering.

Just as he was about to reach the end of the tunnel, the pure black surrounding him brightened, blinding him so, that he had to lift his hands in order to block his eyes. What was going on?

When it seemed safe to open his eyes, he found himself lying down, looking up at a roof. An enormous traditional Japanese mansion towered before him and around him as he lay on the small outside wooden area. He lifted his head to see a small, clear stream that glimmered in the light morning sunshine. Wind softly blew the flora and fauna around him, softening the sound of the birds chirping songs. Now where was he?

Everything seemed to silence as his eyes glimpsed the reflection of glistening blonde hair blowing gently in the breeze. Eyes shining, dressed fully in a dazzling white kimono that seemed to make her glow. When he looked carefully though, her pearly white skin was also dazzling. Nothing short of the word _amazing_ came to mind. But even that seemed unfit and injustice to the beauty he saw in front of him.

A warm feeling coursed through his body as she slowly approached. Her small lips curving up into a smile as she sat beside him, her hands on her lap as she looked out at the scenery.

He'd half expected her to talk, but after a long moment of waiting, her silence had yet to be broken. Opening his mouth, he was about to ask, before he was interrupted,

"We've already met," her soft, melodious voice said. He had to wait a second before the echoing of it slowly dissipated from his head.

"What are you doing here?" he managed to ask, his eyes never leaving her face.

She chuckled at this, bringing her dainty hand to her lips as she did, like a well-bred lady.

"I think you already know why," her voice said, when she stopped.

"Huh?"

Her eyes looked into his. It's light honey brown colour astonishing him. Where had she gotten such beautiful eyes? It seemed to ring a bell somewhere in his memories, but when he tried to venture into them, a blockade stopped him.

"Don't get distracted," she said, seriously now, "think… _remember_ where you are outside the bounds of this world."

"What do you mean?"

"_Think_,"

She looked at him expectantly as he searched her eyes for the answers he knew she had. As his memories of what was going on came flashing back and the shock of it all registered on his face, she smiled again.

"Ahh, so you're finally back to your old self again,"

Urahara stayed silent for a moment, trying to understand what was going on. He watched as the girl leaned close to his ear and whispered something barely comprehensible.

"Who are you?" he asked again, leaning away after hearing her plea, only this time confused after regaining his memories that he'd momentarily forgotten.

"I'm…" her voice said, but the world around him slowly collapsed and the image of her drifted away before he could hear her answer. His hand tried aimlessly to grab her arm to pull her wherever he was going, but she was gone.

The lightness, and carelessness he'd felt in that far off world seemed to fall off him as easily as dust would when something heavy was slammed onto its surface. It was exactly what Urahara felt as he slowly blinked his eyes open to the sound of slamming on the door with people yelling something behind it.

He couldn't make it out at first, but as he lay there, it gradually became clearer,

_Urahara! Get up and fight that thing! _

_Please Urahara!_

More pounding on the door. As he looked around, he saw nothing, and no one. But undoubtedly, he felt a presence behind him. In that second of realisation, a bone-like sword came so close to his neck, if he hadn't used all his energy to slam himself onto the opposite side of the room, he'd have been dead.

The arrancar he faced had dark purple hair, seemingly moved by a wind despite the room not being exposed to any of the elements. Her eyes shined purple as they glared at him, hissing at the missed chance. The heaviness of his body weighed on him as Urahara tried to see past the poison induced hazy vision.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, in a raspy, struggling voice.

It seemed to want no talking as it ignored him and disappeared before reappearing right in front of him. Having conjured Benihime up in time, he blocked the onslaught that would have ensued.

Outside, having heard the clash of swords, the banging and yelling had stopped momentarily.

"Urahara!" Rukia yelled in relief. She sounded teary behind the constraints of the wall. It brought his attention to the glowing purple that held the door shut. The symbols on them read words like death and misery. How he understood it, he didn't know. The arrancar hissed at its distracted pray and attacked again.

What did it want with him? What could it gain from killing him right then and there?

"Tell me what you want!" he yelled, using all his strength to push the arrancar back the length of the room. His eyes blurred worse than before. Not knowing whether or not it was intellectual enough to understand him, he waited. When he thought it wouldn't respond, he began to act, only to be interrupted.

"You should die, that's all you should do."

Astonished, he took a defensive position again as it jumped on him, slashing dangerously close to his face.

"Die Urahara, DIE!"

At the sound of his name, he stopped. Surprisingly, so did the arrancar. Its chest heaved as it seemed to talk to itself.

"Die!" it hissed, "die!"

The sweat on the side of its face showed the internal struggle it was in. Urahara looked, entranced by what was in front of him and paralysed by a different force. Perhaps it was the poison in him that stunned him in place.

"Get back to your place you little ungrateful witch! You let me out so **wait** for your turn again!" it screamed, grasping its head in pain.

The banging on the door started again.

"Urahara! Unseal the door! We can help you!" Ichigo yelled.

However, Urahara was rooted in his spot. How many hours had he been kept in this poison induced stupor? He was so disorientated from it all that it took so much effort to even be standing. Whatever this arrancar's ability was, she had control of the poison in his body. It gripped its head, its bony claws digging into its head. Blood seethed from the self-attack, and Urahara waited in a tension filled anticipation of what would happen next.

What was this thing that was trying to escape her body? Who was she in the first place? How did she know his name? And why did she want him dead? A million questions ran through his mind.

As he willed harder and harder for his body to move, the figure in front of him stopped. It stared up at him with the same vicious smile, only now with blood smeared across its face.

"Now, where were we?"


	22. Reverence III

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsFuyu

* * *

A/N- I've changed my pen name from MsMifuyu-MsFuyu . Don't get it wrong okay! I'm still ever thankful for all your support & too bad. I'm sticking to cliffhanger endings for every chapter. Haha

Until next chapter-

Love,

Mifuyu

* * *

"Now, where were we?"

Feeling the heaviness of everything around him, his mind worked so quickly, processing what had happened. He'd only just been woken up by… someone… and they told him something that he was forgetting… something he hadn't noticed until now.

The arrancar's deep hiss seemed to reverberate off the walls and pierce through his body, bringing him back to reality. The sheer weight of heaviness holding him down made him want to curl up in a ball on the ground.

Jumping at him in a swift movement, he prepared almost in slow motion as he blinked his eyes to defend his position. Urahara's body was as easily slammed into the defensive seal that had blocked the room as the others on the outside were flung back.

"You just don't get it, do you?" its voice said, as if extremely puffed out.

As the bony sword clashed with benihime, his back burned from contact with the barricaded wall. He ground his teeth together, trying not to think of the searing pain on his back. The banging on the other side of the door hit faster and more desperately now.

"_Urahara_!"

He tried to examine it in the heartbeat he had to look at it. But all he saw were the repeated floating words of _death_ and _misery_ swirling around in black and purple intertwined masses. The arrancar's body pushed him further and further into the seal, until not only his back, but his waist was immersed in the reiatsu.

Urahara's body strained from the effort he was using to stay conscious. His hand tried frantically to submerge itself into the depths of the seal for support, but it only burned him more.

"**Give ****up ****Urahara, ****Die**," the obscure lips in his vision repeated over and over again as it slow and steadily pushed him further and further into the seal. Each millimetre burned him more and more, like meat on a grill. He could smell his flesh literally being cooked as he was nearly submerged in.

As the thudding on the door slowly seemed to stop in his mind and his vision began to slur whilst his eyes drooped so close to unconsciousness, he listened to his heartbeat. Its rhythm was slowing down, gradually…

_Thathump… **Thathump**_

It wasn't until the time between the beats seemed so long, that he thought he was finally dead that the familiar white gold beam of light shot like an arrow straight through the arrancar and into Urahara's heart. A flash of something came into his eyes, was it a dream? A memory?

_Standing in a field, surrounded by enormous daisies, and standing in front of him was a girl that looked so familiar he wanted to cry that he saw her. The small smile that crept onto her face when he looked up killed him straight away. Her hands that reached up to touch his jaw in awe, and her beautifully pale pink lips that came closer towards him as she stood on her tip toes… _

The arrancar stood momentarily, its eyes widened as it fell backwards, blood pouring out of the wound that the light had caused.

Urahara's head had drooped. His dream had ceased and there was a pause in time as the light seemed to course through his veins, cleansing it.

He screamed as its searing pain was worse than that of the burning behind him and he fell to his knees. The pin-like feeling that seemed to rise through his veins felt like forever as he gripped his heart –where it had started. What the hell had just happened? If he'd had known this pain was what would inevitably happen, he'd take that arrancar's pummelling any day. A hundred times over, even.

Urahara gripped his clothes. His fingers dug into his chest. Yet as his body prepared for the worst, the climax of the pain… it stopped. Just as quickly as it had started. It stopped.

As if passing a wall, something uncomfortable pushed through the skin in his torso. And as he lifted one side of his kimono to reveal his chest, a huge dark swirling purple blob of mist was forced out of him. He looked at it, amazed, before the light that had pierced into him, re-entered his body, sending a shot of warmth and strength through it. Only then did it dawn on him that the pain was not from the light itself, but from the poison that it pushed out.

His arm lifted Benihime up with a new strength and much to his satisfaction, his vision cleared up. Looking at the mass that was puffing in front of him in its own self torment, something clicked in his mind –something insanely important that he'd forgotten he was fighting for all along, and it only made him angrier.

"What did you do with Chinatsu?" he growled. Unbeknownst to him was the reiatsu that escaped him in his voice. The soundwaves tore at the wood on the walls and small chips flew around in a whirlwind.

Everything paused.

The arrancar's breathing stopped as it watched its legs being pushed back by a simple yell.

The breathing of the people outside stopped as they heard this.

Urahara waited impatiently, slamming benihime into the ground, sending a monstrous wave of crimson reiatsu across the room. The waves broke off into lines that ran along the floor and walls, tearing easily into the seal that was set on the room. As soon as this happened, the door was flung open and three zanpakuto were held menacingly at the neck of the arrancar.

* * *

How could he lose sight of such an important goal? What could have possibly been more important than saving the girl he desperately wanted to know more about? He sat on a stool in Tessai's room, slamming his head over and over on the desk, hoping he'd die of concussion or something or another. From across the hall, Urahara heard the walls of his house breaking under the insane interrogation Rukia, Ichigo and Tessai were having in that room.

Why they bothered was beyond him. Chinatsu could've been dead for all they knew and this monstrosity that sat in that room could simply have been drawn to their reiatsu. Something nagged at the back of his mind though as he conjured up both his dreams. The memory of it would never be as enlightening as the actual thing, however it would do to calm him now. The scenery, the smells, the sounds, everything was so sensual that what had once woken him up from what would've been death, made him want to sleep. But the girl had intrigued him. She smelled like a light mix of roses and honey, and it reminded him of her white blonde hair, and her honey brown eyes… It reminded him of… Chinatsu. The image of her leaning closer with her eyes closed and lips slightly parted.

He groaned at the thought of the image not finishing as he was brought back to reality by the arrancar. But somehow this seemed like dejavu, only this time he was brought back to his first dream, where the girl had leaned in and whispered something important…

His eyes widened as he remembered her simple words.

"_Find __me_"

It wasn't that simple. When she disappeared, the group had looked for a whole week to no avail and she said it as if it were so easy. He slammed his fist on the desk.

Why did he want to find her so badly? What type of connection did they make other than the fact that her presence sped his heart up and gave him a funny feeling in his stomach. That he felt a magnetic pull toward her, wherever she was infuriated him even more. In the direst of times, why couldn't he find her?

A tear seeped from his eye and dropped onto the table.

An innocent little drop of tear.

He stared at it in utter silence. His heart skipped a beat when it began to glow a honey-like gold. He knew at once what it was –or at least where it would lead him. The form of the tear warped and grew as it levitated upwards, as if it had a mind of its own. Urahara yelled at the top of his lungs, making sure the others would hear him and would follow him as the glowing yellow teardrop sped off.

As he ran, all he could think was.

_I'm coming. _

_I'm finally coming!_

His hair blew wildly in the wind as his feet barely touched the air particles underneath him. He'd heard the others follow frantically behind him, asking what was wrong, where he was going.

He couldn't answer.

His eyes were solidly locked on the glowing gold in front of him. Urahara wouldn't risk losing sight of it. Not now, not ever. _Not__in__a__million__life__times_. As they sped toward a desolate mountain range, the light reached the entrance of a cave and dissipated into the air.

Ichigo's puffed voice came from behind him,

"What the hell's going on?"

"Where are we?" Rukia asked before he could answer.

Tessai stayed silent. He understood Urahara, and knew instantly what the lot were there for. Giving Tessai a thankful look, he turned back toward the cave, stepping in with his heart racing.

Would she be here? Or was this a trap, sent by some hollow to lure him in? Only realising this now, he didn't care. If there was even a chance she'd be here, he'd take it. Their footsteps echoed in the darkness as they tried to feel their way around. Water dripped from the cone line formations on the ceiling, causing drip echoes that made Rukia shiver.

As they walked further in, a purple glow lit up their path, and the unmistakeable moving presence of Chinatsu was there. He could almost feel her heartbeat as he drew closer and closer.

"She's here," he whispered.

Turning the right corner, where the source of the light was, they all gasped at Chinatsu's beautiful form held captive in the huge container. Urahara's eyes shined with passion as he ran up to it, slamming benihime's hilt into the glass. It was like he'd done nothing. But soon enough, huge cracks grew on the glass surface and it burst, the purple from the liquid dissipating just as the poison injected into him did, flying back to its source.

Chinatsu's body lay lifelessly on the floor with shattered glass all around her, her legs tucked bent and her arm across her chest. Her messy hair seemed to glitter from the shattered glass embedded in her curls. The only sign of life in her was the small movement in her chest.

"Chinatsu!" Rukia gasped, running and picking her friend up and laying her head on her knees. "I knew it wasn't you back then, I knew it! I'm sorry I even for a second was tricked by that…"

She was stopped by Ichigo's hand on her shoulder as they both watched Chiantsu's eyes slowly open. Chinatsu, slowly regaining strength, coughed lightly, allowing herself to sit properly up without Rukia's support. She looked around, examining her whereabouts but not being able to put a finger on where she actually was. She saw Tessai, Rukia and Ichigo's faces and smiled.

"Where am I?" she asked inquisitively, like her old self. Rukia burst out in tears of joy and hugged her friend in such a tight bear hug, she thought she'd suffocate.

"We'll explain later, but for now, you're safe," Urahara's voice came from behind Rukia. He was so relieved they'd finally found her. Sitting safely in Rukia's arms, he sighed a sigh of relief. They'd get home, she'd tell them what happened. All was well.

But at his voice, Chinatsu looked up, as if she didn't notice him before that, and started shivering uncontrollably before tearing up. Rukia loosened her grip on Chinatsu to see what was wrong, but as she looked around, nothing seemed out of place.

Chinatsu looked at Urahara wide and teary eyed,

"Who are you?"


	23. Desperation

© Copyright 2011

Written work by MsFuyu

* * *

A/N - Super fast updates for the chick who went on hiatus for ages (at one point) aye! I'm really liking how my plot's developing and I'm glad that you're sticking around for it. Again, thank you to everyone for your support. Tell me what you think

Love,

Mifuyu

* * *

A picture couldn't describe how he was feeling, let alone a thousand words. Her pale, shivering form had stared at him for only God knew how long and the heart wrenching words that tore at him when she said them…

"_Who are you?"_

Who was he? He'd have liked to ask himself the exact same question. Urahara slowly pushed open the sliding door. He had survived the poison, the battle and everything, but he had ultimately been killed. Remembering what had only happened before made him want to plunge benihime into his own heart at that moment.

"_Where are you going?" he asked, inquiring why they hadn't taken the shorter route back to his shop. _

_Rukia gave him a sorrow filled stare. Tessai and Ichigo had followed instinctively, knowing Rukia's intentions after Chinatsu's state of anxiety. They looked at each other, nervous. Which one of them would be the one to break the news to him?_

"_I'm taking Chinatsu back to her apartment," Rukia's voice said firmly._

_Urahara couldn't help the look of agony that slipped from under his façade of a calm demeanour._

"_She can recover… she can remember, I won't even look on if she doesn't feel comfortable…" he pleaded._

"_I think she'll feel the most comfortable in her own home." Tessai said._

"_I mean, no offence Urahara, but you haven't exactly been the best lately… falling for a simple arrancar's trap and getting yourself into these situations…Thinking for so long that that arrancar was Chinatsu when it was so clear that she **wasn****'****t**," a dark expression crossed Rukia's face as she said this, as if at the same time he was, they were remembering the clear cut perfection of Chinatsu's attitude and demeanour being imitated so horribly that they wanted to puke. _

"_But-" he tried to yell, but Rukia's voice overpowered his._

"_You fell for something else! What does that say about you! I fell for it, but only for a while. I **knew** something was up… But I wasn't the one shacking up with the imitation! Just let her **be**. I **know** you're anxious, I **know** you want to talk to her again, ask her what's wrong and hug her –whatever you wanna do, but you saw how she looked at you and you **saw** what it did to her," she beckoned to the unconscious form in her arms. _

"_You__know_nothing_,__" __he__whispered__angrily__before__crumbling__into__a__mess__and__pleading__with__her,__ "__please__…"_

"_It's for the best." She said, before speeding away with Ichigo by her side. _

_Urahara took a step forward, wanting to catch up, but was held back by the strong grip of Tessai. _

"_Control," he said, holding his shoulder. _

_Urahara's fierce repelling of the grip soon stopped, and he stood, slumped where he was. His fists clenched. Even the wind seemed to be mocking him as he stood there. Looking with a pained expression up at the sky, he yelled with all his might into the empty sky, knowing no human would be able to hear him in his spiritual form,_

"_Why?"_

A shell of his former self in one moment, he stood silently in the middle of his room, Benihime in his right hand.

* * *

_The sun was setting and the two had walked silently together, their silky clothes blowing in the breeze that had just passed. She didn't know where they were. He'd blindfolded her until they reached the top of the huge cliff that allowed a magnificent view of the sunset. Silently walking, their joined hands swinging back and forth as they drew closer to the edge, she felt right at home. As if she could die at any moment and she'd be happy._

_As she looked up to see his face, the sun blinded her, but she knew who he was…She knew how they'd met, and why they'd loved each other. She knew why they were there and what they planned to do. But she didn't know who he was. And as she positioned them to see clearly what he looked like, a fire burned her vision and took over her senses as it turned into a bright white light. _

Her eyes blinked open to rays of light. A smell of something burnt made her sit upright so fast, her head began to spin, only to be relieved when she saw Rukia frantically putting out a fire originating from a cooking pan. Gripping her head, she groaned, knowing that she'd missed the most crucial part of her dream.

The man in her dream, who was he?

"Rukia…" she said groggily, "please get out of my kitchen. I know you're trying to help, but right now you're making more mess for me to clean up."

At her voice, Rukia turned toward her in surprise and made a mad dash for her friend, pulling her into a bear hug.

"You're finally up! I thought you'd never come round again," she laughed to herself. Chinatsu looked at her confused.

"Huh? How long have I been out?"

"Like…" Rukia checked the clock and counted in her head for a split second before turning back, "almost a month,"

Chinatsu almost fell off her bed from the shock.

"Y-You mean to say, I've been sleeping here for a _month_!" she gasped, "How is that even humanly possible!"

"Well… it's not," Rukia said, a dark expression crossing her face before she looked back at Chinatsu and smiled, "we got Unohana-taichou to come check up on you… with lots of begging of course, since she's a taichou… But she was happy to find out that you were okay and that all you needed was rest. So she put you under a reiatsu induced sleep."

Chinatsu looked at her, processing the information before making an 'o' shape with her mouth.

"But Chinatsu…" Rukia's grim eyes pierced into hers, "what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't remember…?" She looked at her disbelievingly.

"What?" Chinatsu asked, defensively.

"I was taken by Rosa… and that other arrancar girl and suddenly I woke up the next minute next to Ichigo and you were gone…What happened!"

Shaking her as if she expected an answer, Chinatsu couldn't conjure up in her mind what had happened. She wracked her brains, trying to find the answers to Rukia's questioning. When was the last time she hadn't been able to answer a question? What had happened to her brain?

Behind Rukia, Chinatsu's discarded laptop sat on the chair. She stared silently at it for a moment before a nagging in her brain told her something she needed to remember was on it.

She jumped off her bed, despite Rukia's disapproval, grabbed her laptop and sat herself next to Rukia. Opening it up, the screen opened to reveal a familiar looking video. Like she'd watched it before.

Clicking back to the start, Rukia's eyes widened as she watched the two talk haughtily as if they were so righteous.

"_Ojoouuuuu-sama__"_ one said mockingly. She had to hold back a gasp when she saw her own face, plastered onto the screen. All bloodied up as if she'd been beaten.

Even as the video ended, Rukia was rooted where she sat. Mixed emotions coursing through her at that very moment. Similarly, Chinatsu was rooted to her spot, only because the shock of all the memories of what had happened after that reached her.

"I… did the trade… I got you back….I'm… so glad you're safe," Chinatsu said, relieved as she looked at her friend.

"Why did you go? I could've saved myself!"

"You probably could… but it would've taken so much more time. So much more time apart from Ichigo that I couldn't see again. And the person they were after was me. For some reason. I still don't know why."

"Chinatsu, do you know where we found you? Do you at least remember that?"

"Where… you found me?" Her face crumpled into a confused mess. As Rukia was about to say something, she stopped as she watched Chinatsu look down, trying so desperately to remember.

"It's fine. I won't say anything then."

"Why would you do that?" Chinatsu objected, clearly annoyed at being withheld from information. Particularly things related to her.

"You've read the books yourself. Humans block the memories of things that are particularly traumatising to protect themselves. If I tell you, will you just fall into depression and kill yourself or something? I don't want that!" She shivered at the thought. "So no. I won't tell you."

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Chinatsu pouted but accepted Rukia's stance in a sheer acceptance of logic. Sighing in relief at her friend's lack of irritable complaints. Chinatsu slumped, looking at her hands, as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. She clamped them against her temples and shook her head. Chuckling in sympathy, Rukia patted her head.

"It'll come back to you. I know it will," In the back of her mind, she couldn't get rid of the scene that played out in her head from Unohana-taichou's visit.

_The senkaimon closed behind her as Unohana-taichou gracefully entered the room. She looked approvingly at her surroundings and back at Urahara. _

"_This is a nice change from your drab store Urahara. I'm glad it's brightened up a bit," she smiled warmly, not understanding the predicament he was in. His eye bags had grown larger since the last time he'd seen her, having been unable to sleep for days. He looked at Unohana with a dead serious desperation,_

"_Please, make her remember." _

_Unohana-taichou almost stepped back in bewilderment at this new side of Urahara. He'd always been an eccentric man that she'd found annoyingly cheerful all the time, but as she looked at him now, his arms folded across his chest as he looked away, she had a new found curiosity for the man._

"_There's nothing I can do about her own memories, I only deal with implanted memories made in the lab at Soul Society. I'm afraid all I can do is check her condition and cleanse her mind of any trauma she's experienced," she said, walking toward Chinatsu's unconscious body. _

"…"

_Urahara's head touched his chest as it drooped in agony. _

"_Please," he whispered under his breath._

_Unohana bent over Chinatsu's body, allowing her hand to float over Chinatsu's forehead. A green light began glowing, moving like a star in her hands, slowing Chinatsu's breathing down. She closed her eyes and began searching for the dark spots. _

_Unohana's eyes were filled with sorrow as they opened again after a long while. She wanted to voice what was wrong but at the same time wanted to withhold it from them, especially Urahara, now that she knew. _

"_What's wrong Unohana-taichou?" Rukia asked, cautiously respectful. _

_Sighing as she stood up to her full height, Unohana looked at them solemnly. _

"_Earlier this year, Kuchiki-san, I healed you from wounds that you sustained from an arrancar that had evidence of an ancient art…."_

"_Yeah I remember," Rukia's bitter face was evidence of her memories of the pain she endured that day. _

"_Chinatsu's wounds possess similarities with that of your own-" _

"_Then we can just do what you did for me. Even if it's painful, it'll be better than losing a life."_

"_Yes, however-" _

"_She'll finally get her memories back after though, right?" _

"_Kuchiki-san," Unohana stopped her hopeful babbling in its tracks and faced Urahara with the most gut wrenchingly pained face she'd ever made in her entire medicinal life, "I'm afraid that… though there may be similarities, there is a very huge margin of difference…"_

"_And that is?" Urahara's voice cut in. A mix of annoyance and anxiety was evident as his voice seemed to trail on and hang in the silent room over everyone's heads. _

_Unohana hung her head and sincerely bowed in apology as she said,_

"_It's an ancient method in which the mind is tampered with and imprinted on with a kind of permanent type reiatsu…"_

"_So what you're saying is, she's scarred for life?" Ichigo interjected._

"_I'm saying… I can't get rid of such marks without killing the vessel," her voice could scarcely be heard, "Even if I were able to make her remember with any type of technique, there's nothing I can do."_

Rukia was shaken back to reality with Chinatsu's head leaning on her shoulder. Both the girls sat cross legged on her friend's bed. She felt the warm tears of her friend coming into contact with the skin of her bare leg.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked, stroking Chinatsu's head comfortingly. She shook her head at Rukia's question.

"I don't know," she hiccupped, "I started to think of the man in my dream. I loved him **so** m-much… but for some reason when I thought of what he looked like or who he was, everything went blank and I was left with this empty feeling…Like everything's gone…"

"There there," she stroked Chinatsu's head softer and softer, rocking her back and forth. She didn't know what to do, being unable to empathise with how her friend was feeling.

In a sudden act, Chinatsu screamed in frustration, pushing Rukia away from her. Her hands cupped her head at her temples as she rocked back and forth, tears running down her cheeks.

She looked at Rukia with sorrowful yet crazed eyes and asked hopelessly,

"What's happening to me?"


	24. Reintroductions

© Copyright 2013

Written work by MsFuyu

* * *

I'm back.

xo

Mifuyu

* * *

Headphones blasting in her ears, Chinatsu sat. Somehow the picturesque view of the landscape beyond the school library didn't hold the same allure it used to. She crawled into a little corner, sliding the book along the floor with her. Her head still buzzed with the familiar blur of translucent humans, smiling… laughing…shouting. Somehow it all felt so naïve. Or was it simply precocious of her to feel far away from their world? A mellow voice cleared its throat from behind the walls of her book. Looking up, she saw enormous grey eye bags on a middle-aged man adorned with green kimono and striped hat.

"What an odd man," she blurted out.

His silent half smirk let her remark ferment in the air as the two stared at each other. Chinatsu shivered, despite the heater being on. Was he a perverted old geezer? How did he even get into the school?

Something clicked in her mind. He was perfectly visible. So he was like Rukia and Ichigo?

"You're…"

Somehow he knew what she was planning to say and nodded,

"I'm a shinigami, yes," his plastic smile twitched as he bowed, "how do you do?"

"I'm fine, thank you,"

He nodded again, more vigorously this time. His cane clicking on the floor as he leaned against a wall.

"That's good,"

The two sat and stared at the scenery together. Despite the silence, Chinatsu felt completely at ease, as if she'd done this a thousand of times before.

"Say, have we met? I feel like I know you from somewhere," she asked.

Again, her words hung in the air. His voice was calculative as he responded, as if caught off guard,

"Perhaps –I can't quite recall. I own a shop you see, a special shop."

"What kind?" Chinatsu asked curiously.

"A candy shop,"

"You sound like a rapist coercing their target into a van,"

"Do I?" he laughed.

Trying to fill the awkward silence that ensued, she said,

"But I guess selling candy isn't that big a business these days so there isn't as much competition?"

He looked at her amused, but questioningly silent.

Chinatsu simply shrugged.

"What brings you to a school library?" she asked guardedly, "do you have any business here?"

"Hmm, yes. I did have products I needed to drop off to a client."

"Products? What… candy?"

He nodded.

"Special candy,"

They both chuckled. Chinatsu not quite understanding his amusement giggled out of politeness.

"Rukia _does_ like her candy," he smiled, the wrinkles lining his tired eyes stretched upwards as his eyes glazed with a reminiscent stare.

She couldn't help her curiosity.

Despite the wrinkles, his stare was a youthful mix of ambition and wonder at something that was beyond the visible. The light set his hazel eyes alight, glowing in the twilight.

"You know Rukia?"

Her voice seemed to interrupt his daze as his stare reverted back to her. Yet he gave her the same stare, like he was looking at the sun.

"Why, yes, she was my client today."

"You deliver candy? Does that really get any profit?"

Giving her a lopsided smile he said,

"Let me worry about that won't you?"

As the two stood in silence, the man finally thought to check the clock above the librarian's desk. Why they hadn't been silenced by the librarian yet she didn't know.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," he pushed his weight off the wall as he started toward the door.

"Wait," she said, "we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name's Chin-"

"Hello Chinatsu," he bowed in a western style, lifting his hat as he cut her off, "my name is Urahara Kisuke, nice to make your acquaintance."

"… you too," she managed to mutter out as he brushed past the exit,

"What a strange man."

* * *

As soon as he stepped outside, he tried to inch further and further away from the short black haired girl waiting outside. Arms folded across her chest.

"Using me as an excuse?" Rukia scoffed, "typical."

He ignored her but stopped in his place, angling his head slightly toward her,

"Thank you, Kuchiki-san, for this."

"Why're you thanking me? I haven't done anything. Plus it doesn't look like Chinatsu's snapping out of it anytime soon."

"I know," he sighed,

"I still can't get used to that gigai again either…" she muttered.

"Just… thank you," he sighed again before stepping up to flash step his way back to the store. Rukia shouted after his tail,

"In that gigai the only thing she'll think is that you're a perverted old geezer!

Don't get your hopes up!"

But he couldn't. He couldn't stop the feeling from arising in the pit of his stomach. The hope that planted itself and was starting to bloom into fruition as their history began yet again.

* * *

_The door slid open at the feel of her reiatsu. Her long black plait swished and swayed down her back as she ran her fingers over the edges of books, finally finding the one she was looking for._

_The book's title bore the dread and hate of all Seireitei's royal families and Soul King himself._

_**ELDERS**_

_Who wreaked havoc in the world. Wherever they went, they left a pathway of destruction. Her slender fingers slid down the page as she skimmed through details she'd read thousands of times. _

"_Was that really an elder?" she asked herself._

_After a moment's thought she shook her head. _

"_There's no way an elder would be so easily exterminated," _

_Her finger ran over the yellowing pages, looking for the information she needed. Finally she spotted the familiar symbols under a subheading of 'unknown' –Something that couldn't be classified as reiatsu or foreign body. Her eyes widened as she flicked through page after page. _

_She'd found it._

_Leaning up, she thought back to the intensive care treatment she'd done on the Shimizu Chinatsu girl. Hands held over the girl's limp body, she opened the huge inner lock that had been embedded inside the girl. As she did so, the symbols flew out, pounding wave after wave into the walls around them. They glowed menacingly, eons of advancements beyond the remedies she could offer. _

_She couldn't get the image of Urahara's anguished face out of her mind as her helplessness overwhelmed her. _

"_Unohana-taichou,"_

_Isane's voice made her jump, closing the book slowly before turning around. The screen that appeared before her showed Isane's determined face staring back at her._

"_What is it Isane?" _

"_Sorry to disturb you taichou! But there's been an attack on the fifth division," _

_Unohana exhaled, her momentarily buzzed mind reassembling itself before ordering_

"_I understand, assemble all available aids as soon as possible. I'll be there shortly,"_

_Before the screen disappeared, Isane's bowing form receded into a run._

_Unohana-taichou sighed in relief, reopening the book and burning the shape of the symbols into her mind._

_She'd found it again. _


	25. Hunted

© Copyright 2013  
Written work by Msfuyu

* * *

Her legs were glued to the deck of her balcony tier, shivering as the desperate cries of hollow echoed around her. The cold wind lashed at her, turning her hair into whips that blinded her with wave after wave of soaked gold. Standing before her was an army, their inner cries deafening and pleading with her. It was like dejavu but her mind couldn't conjure from where in her memory.

A hand lifted up, holding back the huge army with the weight of his reiatsu. Standing in front of them was a young blonde man.

His lips moved but no words came out.

When she made no response, confused, she stared at him. Dropping slowly down in front of her, as if he were levitating, he grabbed her hand and bent down to kiss it. The touch of his soft lips against her skin made her shiver from the ice-cool. Just as she realised, he looked up at her with his hollow iris-less eyes and her whole body froze. Rendered unable to move, her helplessness grew as she futilely fought with her body's restraint. Screaming silently, she plummeted into a swirling abyss of black and purple.

Chinatsu's eyes sprung open, heart still racing from the nightmare. She dragged herself into a sitting position, lurching forward from the ache in her chest. She shivered instinctively, scrunching the front of her shirt only to realise that in her hand wasn't the familiar cotton of her pajamas but the warm slime of blood sliding down the walls of the heart that was in her hand. Chinatsu's breathing began to speed up as she saw the line of arteries and veins that lead up to her hand like chords. The vessels connected to her, but also had another set of vessels on the other side. Following them with her eyes, they led up to the open chest of the smiling, iris-less man in front of her.

Waking up from the second dream in a cold sweat, screaming, she balled her hands either side of her into fists.

'don't cry' 'don't cry' 'don't cry', she willed herself over and over again. But she couldn't help the tear that escaped the edges of her lids, sliding down her temples onto her pillow. Tilting her chin down, she looked at her chest, perfectly intact, covered with skin and without protruding arteries or curled up heart.

Too afraid to sit up, too afraid to fall back asleep, Chinatsu fought the convulsions of shock spasms and rivers of fear down her eyes. The neon green of her alarm clock soon flashed **5:00** but she'd lost all sense of time, staring blankly at the ceiling.

* * *

"You look like you were hit by a bus this morning… what happened?" Rukia asked, gently rubbing Chinatsu's eyebags with her thumbs as she cupped her face.

"I had a bad dream… don't worry about me,"

Rukia stared at her incredulously.

"Simple 'bad dreams' don't cause this kind of damage Chinatsu, seriously,"

"Mm…"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Chinatsu shook her head slowly, dejectedly.

"If I talk about it –If I remember it, I'll start crying again.

I don't want to cry anymore. Not today."

Nodding in acceptance, Rukia silently matched her steps with Chinatsu as they walked down the street.

"Ne, Rukia."

"Hm?"

"Do you often buy sweets from that man's store? The old man I told you about who was in the library…"

"Yeah, Urahara sells me products Ichigo and I need."

"Huh? You guys _need_ sweets?" she smirked.

"They're not actual sweets… they're soul candy. The souls that inhabit Ichigo's body when I don't have my skull glove to punch him out. Or when he doesn't feel like being punched…" Rukia chuckled.

"Oh."

"Did you wanna go visit him? He does _actually_ sell sweets though, as a farce for humans… In case they happen upon his store I suppose."

Chinatsu deliberated over this for a moment.

"I… Nah, it's okay,"

"You interested in the ojiisan from the library?" Rukia nudged her shoulder.

"Of course not!" she laughed, "I'm just curious because he kept saying 'special candy'… I guess that's why it was so special…"

"Yeah… costed me a fortune as well,"

"How much?"

"Hmm, about 20,000 kan a tube,"

"Is that a lot?"

"In soul society currency, yes. However, I don't know how to equate that into Japanese yen,"

Seeing Rukia struggle with trying to think of a way to convert it, Chinatsu giggled.

"Don't worry about it. It's a lot. Let's leave it at that."

Out of distractions, Chinatsu's stare fell back to the ground as they walked. As much as she willed the nightmare itself away, it seemed to always come back to her through every little thing. Rukia's small petite hand or someone's bleached blonde hair when walking through the city. She felt the weight of her eyes become heavier and heavier as her mind fuzzed.

"Are you okay?" Rukia asked, holding Chinatsu up by her shoulder as she slumped.

"Ugh," she clutched her head.

"Let's get you home…"

"No!" Chinatsu cried, "No I just…"

Shaking her head, she let go of Rukia, brooding over everything that had transpired over the past few days. Brooding over her nightmares and feeling anguished at having blanks. She'd never felt so messed up before in her life.

Rukia stopped in her tracks, looking up at Chinatsu with a worried glance. Her arm was outstretched, ready to catch her if she fell again.

"I don't know anymore…"

"Chinatsu.."

"What happened to me when I was taken, Rukia?"

"…"

Now it was Rukia's turn to be still and silent.

"What happened to me?" Chinatsu spun around, turning to face Rukia head on, her hands cupping Rukia's face.

"I need to know,"

"You won't want to."

"Did I get raped? Beaten? Suffocated?" she continued the list on and on and on.

"No Chinatsu, No."

"But I need to know."

"You don't." Rukia gave her a defiant stare, "the human mind blocks memories that overwhelm them, that make them so rigid with fear that they're unable to live normal lives anymore. Yours did that for a reason and I will not be the one to dredge up those fears again."

Chinatsu stared wide-eyed, lips parted. Letting go, the two girls continued along the side street in silence. Her mind whirled with possibilities of the events that could've happened, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Can you at least tell me one thing?"

Rukia looked at her questioningly,

"Who is that candy shop guy, really?"

"…What?"

"Don't give me that… I've known you for years now, Rukia, and you're a bad liar.

Tell me."

Rukia's lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes debated whether or not to tell her best friend.

"No."

Chinatsu's eye twitched as she tried futilely to keep the frustration out of her voice,

"Why won't you tell me?"

"It's not something for me to tell."

"What do you mean?"

Sighing, Rukia grabbed Chinatsu's wrist.

"Where are we going?"

"To the Candy Store."

* * *

"Urahara," a voice came over the screen, the man's face clouded in darkness.

"Sir," Urahara bowed, looking up as he lifted his head.

"The files compiled are being transferred to you at this moment. We've located another," the man's chin leaned onto his balled up fists. His face going noticeably darker.

"Do you have proof this time?" Urahara scowled, supressing the horrible memories of the previous false extermination. Those large, irises of blue that stared back at him; chilling him to his very core. There were no symbols, not even a different coloured soul. Just blue glitter rising into the sky –soon to be joined into the outskirt towns of soul society.

"The symbols are without a doubt the same,"

Urahara nodded. Just as he was about to deactivate contact, the man added,

"And also,"

"This one has been identified as one of the head families. Be aware. You might be out of your league on this one. Reinforcements will be sent-"

"I don't need them. Send them away."

He stopped his flow of reiatsu in the screen that instant, fuming from the severe underestimation of his and Tessai's abilities. They'd completed their tasks as easily and efficiently the last couple of times. Head family or not, they were the same. Just pointlessly revered above the rest for what reason, he didn't understand.

The hell butterfly floated up to the tip of his finger.

He paused, listening, absorbing.

As soon as the culprit's name was given, he violently shook the creature off his hand, watching as it fled and disappeared, camouflaging itself into nothingness.

Shaking in denial, he frowned. They'd made another mistake.

Definitely.

…Maybe.

Replaying the voice that was transmitted from the butterfly in his head, he couldn't shake the rhythmic pronunciation of Shimizu Chinatsu.


End file.
